Measurement of excitation temperature and electron density in capillary Z-pinch argon plasma

Abstract

The pressure dependence of excitation temperature ( T exc ) and electron density ( n e ) versus time was investigated to understand the characteristics of capillary Z-pinch argon (Ar) plasma. Measured profiles of several Ar lines were used to calculate T e and n e . T e measured by Boltzmann plot method has a maximum of ∼2.4 eV n e obtained from the Stark broadened line of Ar II wavelength 422.816 nm was ∼10 17 cm −3. Conditions in our system meet the assumption of local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE), so using LTE to calculate T e and n e is valid in our system.