Plasma ionization and resistivity models for low-, mid- and higher-atomic number plasmas and their applications to radiative properties of z-pinches

The LTE Saha–Boltzmann plasma ionization balance model and the Braginskii plasma electric resistance model are compared with the results by a suite of codes based on the average-atom model, which is a quantum-mechanical version of the Temperature Dependent Thomas–Fermi Theory. The analysis is focused on low-Z Al, mid-Z Cu and higher-Z Mo plasmas over broad ranges of electron temperature Te and electron number density ne. Calculations of mean ion charge by these two LTE models are compared to the results produced by non-LTE atomic kinetic codes. The applicability of the LTE and non-LTE models to the description of the radiative properties of highly-radiating z-pinch plasmas is also discussed. Two different approaches to the calculation of plasma resistance and their effects on line radiation mechanisms are analyzed.