photoionization

[foh-toh-ahy-uh-nuh-zey-shuh n]

noun Physics.

the phenomenon in which the absorption of electromagnetic radiation by an atom in a gas induces the atom to emit a bound electron and thereby become ionized.

Origin of photoionization

1910–15; photo- + ionization

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018