Abstract

Experiments are reported for two key lines of aluminum, sparked in nitrogen against graphite for a variety of discharge current waveforms, that suggest that changes in spark source parameters do not fundamentally change the excitation processes in the spark. A straightforward, "either-or" excitation condition is imposed on a simple mass transport model, calculated from measured velocities of electrode vapor in the spark, to predict the time dependence of a primary feature of radiation emitted in the Al II spectrum. The data combine to suggest that parameter-dependent excitation indices require re-examination in terms of the manner in which radiation emitted from the discharge is viewed by the spectrometer.

Excitation Temperature in Time-Resolved Spectra of Single Condensed Spark Discharges*

Leon Blitzer and Willoughby M. Cady
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 41(7) 440-445 (1951)

Emission Characteristics of Vacuum Spark Discharges

J. C. Wahr, W. W. McCormick, and R. A. Sawyer
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 43(3) 151-156 (1953)

Short Period Investigations in Spark Discharges

D. W. Steinhaus, H. M. Crosswhite, and G. H. Dieke
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 43(4) 257-270 (1953)

Spectral Stability in the Condensed Spark Discharge in Air

Saul Levy
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 35(3) 221-226 (1945)

Some Effects of an Air Blast on Spark Discharges*

Brian Cragg and J. K. Hurwitz
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 46(10) 889-895 (1956)