Collisional and Radiative Processes in High-Pressure Discharge Plasmas

Stevens Institute Of Technology, Hoboken NJ

Investigators

Abstract

Discharge plasmas at or near atmospheric pressures provide a fertile environment for the experimental study of collisions and radiative processes dominated by step-wise processes and by three-body collisions. Two approaches have been developed for the generation and maintenance of stable atmospheric-pressure discharge plasmas. One utilizes a hollow cathode discharge concept; the second is based on a modified dielectric barrier discharge. These two devices will be used to carry out a comprehensive series of cw and time-resolved optical measurements aimed at elucidating the fundamental collisional and radiative processes in plasmas composed of pure neon and in neon/hydrogen, neon/nitrogen, and neon/oxygen mixtures.