Temporal behavior of light-emission in the visible spectral range from a Ti–K 2CO 3–H cell

Abstract

We report the generation of a hydrogen plasma and extreme ultraviolet emission as recorded via the hydrogen Balmer emission in the visible range. Typically, a hydrogen plasma is generated and the emission of extreme ultraviolet light from hydrogen gas is achieved via a discharge at high voltage, a high-power inductively coupled plasma, or a plasma created and heated to extreme temperatures by RF coupling (e.g. >10 6 K ) with confinement provided by a toroidal magnetic field. The observed plasma formed at low temperatures (e.g. ≈10 3 K ) from atomic hydrogen generated at a tungsten filament that heated a titanium dissociator coated with potassium carbonate. The temporal behavior of the plasma was recorded via hydrogen Balmer α line emission when all power into the cell was terminated. A 2 s decay of the plasma was observed after a fast decay of the electric field to zero. The persistence of emission following the removal of all of the power to the cell indicates that a novel chemical power source is present that forms an energetic plasma in hydrogen. No unusual behavior was observed with the control sodium carbonate.