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The Influence of Admixtures of Molecular Gases on the Efficiency of Radiation Production by ArHg Mixture Plasmas used in Fluorescent Lamps
Author(s) -
Winkler R. B.,
Wilhelm J.,
Winkler R.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
annalen der physik
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.009
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1521-3889
pISSN - 0003-3804
DOI - 10.1002/andp.19824940103
Subject(s) - atomic physics , plasma , excited state , fluorescence , torr , radiation , impurity , materials science , excitation , electron , electric field , dissipation , resonance (particle physics) , molecule , chemistry , physics , optics , thermodynamics , quantum mechanics , organic chemistry
Starting from former investigations of pure ArHg mixture plasmas in parameter ranges typical of fluorescent lamps we studied the influence of additional admixtures of molecular gases (N 2 , H 2 ) on the energy transfer from the electrons heated by an electric field to the lowest excited states of Hg atoms which are the energy source for the resonance radiation production. By calculation of the different power loss rates via solving the appropriate Boltzmann equation for three component mixture plasmas it was found that already a threshold level of molecular impurities of about 10 −4 Torr leads to a marked energy dissipation by the impurities and thus to a pronounced reduction of the efficiency of the resonance radiation production. This is caused by the great effectivity of vibrational excitation of molecules in electron collisions due to the great cross sections for such collisions and their low thresholds.