Thermal and nonthermal electron–ion bremsstrahlung spectrum from high-temperature plasmas

Electron–ion bremsstrahlung radiation from high-temperature plasmas is investigated. The first- and second-order Coulomb corrections in the nonrelativistic bremsstrahlung radiation power are obtained by the Elwert–Sommerfeld factor. In this paper, two cases of the electron distributions, the thermal and nonthermal power-law distributions, are considered. The inclusion of Coulomb corrections is necessary in deducing correctly the electron distribution function from radiation data. These results provide the correct information of electron distributions in high-temperature plasmas, such as in inertial confinement fusion plasmas and in the astrophysical hot thermal and nonthermal x-ray sources.