PHOTOPUMPING AND FLUORESCENCE IN A LASER-PRODUCED PLASMA .2. SIMULATIONS

Detailed radiative-transfer simulations are presented for plasma that is prepared in a predominantly heliumlike ground state and then photopumped. The plasma conditions in the simulation are based on those determined in a line-coincidence experiment described in the preceding paper [C. A. Back, C. Chenais-Popovics, and R. W. Lee, Phys. Rev. A 44, 6730 (1991)]. The measured emitted flux of the resonance line of the heliumlike aluminum ion, at 7.757 angstrom, is used as input for the photon pump. Predictions of the fluorescence are directly compared with experimental results. The synthetic spectra are calculated, and the effect of the photopumping on the level populations and ionization balance is discussed. Also a description is included of the equivalent two-level-atom radiative-transfer scheme that is used to calculate the self-consistent solution of the level populations and the radiation field.