Charge State and Slowing of Fast Ions in a Plasma

The charge state of a projectile ion traveling through a plasma target under conditions relevant to ion-beam fusion is calculated. It is found that, at the projectile energies and target parameters considered, the projectile ionization is significantly higher than that of the same projectile species in a cold target. The resulting strong effects on the range and on the shape of the energy deposition profile are shown in several examples of full dynamic calculations.