Thermal ionization of Cs Rydberg states

Rates P(nl) of photoionization from Rydberg ns-, np-, nd-states of a valence electron in Cs, induced by black-body radiation, were calculated on the basis of the modified Fues model potential method. The numerical data were approximated with a three-term expression which reproduces in a simple analytical form the dependence of P(nl) on the ambient temperature T and on the principal quantum number n. The comparison between approximate and exactly calculated values of the thermal ionization rate demonstrates the applicability of the proposed approximation for highly excited states with n from 20 to 100 in a wide temperature range of T from 100 to 10,000 K. We present coefficients of this approximation for the s-, p- and d-series of Rydberg states. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.