title: First-Principles Investigation to Ionization of Argon Under Conditions Close to Typical Sonoluminescence Experiments.
abstract: Mott effect, featured by a sharp increase of ionization, is one of the unique properties of partially ionized plasmas, and thus of great interest to astrophysics and inertial confinement fusion. Recent experiments of single bubble sonoluminescence (SBSL) revealed that strong ionization took place at a density two orders lower than usual theoretical expectation. We show from the perspective of electronic structures that the strong ionization is unlikely the result of Mott effect in a pure argon plasma. Instead, first-principles calculations suggest that other ion species from aqueous environments can energetically fit in the gap between the continuum and the top of occupied states of argon, making the Mott effect possible. These results would help to clarify the relationship between SBSL and Mott effect, and further to gain an better understanding of partially ionized plasmas.
authors: HEDPS, Center for Applied Physics and Technology, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.|College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors: Wei
authors: W
authors: Kang
authors: HEDPS, Center for Applied Physics and Technology, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.|College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors: Shijun
authors: S
authors: Zhao
authors: HEDPS, Center for Applied Physics and Technology, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.|College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors: Shen
authors: S
authors: Zhang
authors: HEDPS, Center for Applied Physics and Technology, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.|Institute of Applied Physics and Computational Mathematics, Beijing 100088, China.
authors: Ping
authors: P
authors: Zhang
authors: National Key Laboratory of Shock Wave and Detonation Physics, Institute of Fluid Physics, P. O. Box 919-102, Mianyang, Sichuan, China.
authors: Q F
authors: QF
authors: Chen
authors: HEDPS, Center for Applied Physics and Technology, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.|College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.|Institute of Applied Physics and Computational Mathematics, Beijing 100088, China.
authors: Xian-Tu
authors: XT
authors: He