Degree of ionization

However, the term fully ionized is also used to describe an ion that has no electrons left.

In both cases, the atom or molecule ceases to be a neutral particle and becomes a charge carrier.

Individual free electrons and ions in a plasma have very short lives typically inferior to the microsecond, as ionization and recombination, excitation and relaxation are collective continuous processes.

[3][4] When referred to an atom, "fully ionized" means that there are no bound electrons left, resulting in a bare nucleus.

Regular stars largely contain hydrogen and helium that are fully ionized into protons (H+) and alpha-particles (He2+).

[5] The nature of the Crookes tube "cathode ray" matter was subsequently identified by English physicist Sir J.J. Thomson in 1897,[6] and dubbed "plasma" by Irving Langmuir in 1928,[7] perhaps because it reminded him of a blood plasma.