A possibility of revealing metastability of a supercooled plasma

The possibility of formation of a supercooled plasma with a decay time longer than that predicted by traditional recombination theories is explored. It is assumed that the plasma is formed by laser or electron-beam ionisation of an electronegative gas mixture. The analysis is based on recent theoretical investigations predicting an anomalously low rate of triple recombination in a strongly ionised ion–ion plasma. According to these investigations, the recombination rate is reduced by the influence of a dynamic memory of a classical Coulomb plasma found in nonbinary interactions. It is shown that these effects are undetectable in mixtures used typically in exciplex lasers. By suitable selection of pump and gas mixture parameters one can produce a situation in which different triple-recombination theories predict a radically different nature of plasma relaxation.