Abstract

Image-converter measurements of a pulsed mercury-vapor argon discharge illustrate the spatial characteristics of the initial discharge breakdown at currents below and above the Pupp limit. It is shown that striations, with lifetimes greater than 5 msec are created in the pulsed discharge at currents approximately twice the Pupp limit. Rather complex spatial structures are found in the initiation of the discharge if it is pulsed at repetition rates which do not permit complete de-ionization between successive pulses. The results suggest caution and further experiments in the interpretation of structure in the afterglow emission of pulsed glow discharges.

© 1966 Optical Society of America

Glow Discharge Resonance

A. B. Stewart
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 45(8) 651-657 (1955)

Spectroscopic Study of the Early Afterglow in Helium: Visible Bands and Hopfield Continuum*

Don Villarejo, Ronald R. Herm, and Mark G. Inghram
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 56(11) 1574-1584 (1966)

The Formation of Molecular Helium in a Glow Discharge*

W. D. Parkinson
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 41(9) 619-622 (1951)

Light Output Observations on Low-Pressure Mercury-Vapor Discharges*

F. W. Crawford and H. R. Pagels
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 53(6) 734-740 (1963)

High-Pressure Mercury Discharge Lamps

W. M. Vaidya and V. D. Dandawate
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 56(12) 1693-1697 (1966)