Vicinage Effects for a Nitrogen Molecular Cluster in Plasmas

The vicinage effects are studied for a fast nitrogen diatomic molecular cluster in a high-density plasma target.A variety of plasma parameters are discussed with regard to stopping power ratio,molecular axis deflection and Coulomb explosion.Emphasis is placed on the vicinage effects on Coulomb explosion and stopping power for a nitrogen cluster in plasmas.The results indicate that vicinage effects influence the correlation between ions in the cluster,and the Coulomb explosion will proceed faster with higher projectile speed,lower plasma density and higher plasma temperature.Comparing hydrogen and nitrogen molecular ions for Coulomb explosion and deflection angle under the same set of parameters,one can find that the nitrogen ion has faster Coulomb explosion and stronger deflection of molecular axis due to the contribution of charge.In the initial stage of the Coulomb explosion the stopping power ratio has a higher value due to enhanced vicinage effects while in the later stage the stopping power ratio approaches one,indicating that the vicinage effects disappear and the ions in the cluster simply behave as independent atomic ions in the plasma.

Review of stopping power and Coulomb explosion for molecular ion in plasmas

We summarize our theoretical studies for stopping power of energetic heavy ion,diatomic molecular ions and small clusters penetrating through plasmas.As a relevant research field for the heavy ion inertial confinement fusion(HICF),we lay the emphasis on the dynamic po-larization and correlation effects of the constituent ion within the molecular ion and cluster for stopping power in order to disclose the role of the vicinage effect on the Coulomb explosion and energy deposition of molecules and clusters in plasma.On the other hand,as a promising scheme for ICF,both a strong laser field and an intense ion beam are used to irradiate a plasma target.So the influence of a strong laser field on stopping power is significant.We discussed a large range of laser and plasma parameters on the coulomb explosion and stopping power for correlated-ion cluster and C 60 cluster.Furthermore,in order to indicate the effects of different cluster types and sizes on the stopping power,a comparison is made for hydrogen and carbon clusters.In addition,the deflection of molecular axis for diatomic molecules during the Coulomb explosion is also given for the cases both in the presence of a laser field and laser free.Finally,a future experimental scheme is put forward to measure molecular ion stopping power in plasmas in Xi’an Jiaotong University of China.