A spectroscopic study of the pulsed gas discharge in crossed electric and magnetic fields

Abstract

The pulsed gas discharge in crossed electric and magnetic fields was studied spectroscopically in the wavelength range between 3100 and 4660 Å. A 5 μF, 800 V condenser bank was discharged through a cylindrical magnetron with an incandescent tungsten filament operated at argon pressures between 5 × 10−5 and 5 × 10−4 Torr. The axial magnetic field was 600 G. The spectrum contains lines of ionized argon; no atomic argon lines were observed. Ionized oxygen and atomic lines of tungsten were the main impurities. All wavelengths emitted by the pulsed discharge lie between 3900 and 4660 Å. The majority of ion lines have upper 4p states (in the case of ArII) and 3p states (in the case of OII).