Abstract
The principle of microscopic time reversal of physical processes, detailed balance, is widely used and depended upon in the theoretical community as a connection between photorecombination (PR) and photoionization (PI). This paper reports on a novel use of detailed balance and the comparison of experimental results obtained by two very distinct techniques to determine both the metastable fraction of an ion beam and partial [Formula presented] PR cross sections and partial [Formula presented] PI cross sections for the ground state and for two metastable states. The [Formula presented] to [Formula presented] system presents a unique opportunity to obtain comprehensive state-selective information by combining results from PR and PI experiments.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Physical Review Letters |
Volume | 89 |
Issue number | 19 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2002 |