A plea for a reexamination of ionization potential depression measurements

Experiments at the Linac Coherent Light Source determined the ionization potential depression (IPD) in dense plasmas by measuring the Kα fluorescence associated with K-shell holes created by the X-ray free-electron laser. The analysis of the experimental spectrum found a significantly larger IPD than predicted by the widely used Stewart–Pyatt model. It is shown, however, that a more accurate treatment of atomic levels than used in the analysis has additional channels reducing the threshold laser energy for creating Kα photons without invoking an increase in the IPD. Thus, it is argued that a simulation of the Kα fluorescence using improved atomic data could impact the interpretation of the experimental results.