Electron temperature measurement from neutral atomic tungsten emission line ratio.

Abstract

A method to determine electron temperature within a plasma by the spectral analysis of atomic tungsten emission has been explored. The technique was applied to a post-discharge region immediately following a high voltage nanosecond pulsed discharge in air with tungsten electrodes. Atomic tungsten lines are readily observed in the weak emission spectrum within the post-discharge region for many microseconds. Intensity ratios were measured at various times after the pulsed discharge for a select pair of neutral tungsten emission lines at 400.88 and 401.52 nm, where the upper electronic levels of each transition are at 3.46 and 5.52 eV respectively. This significant difference in upper state energy causes their line intensity ratio to vary as the electron temperature changes. In addition to the emission spectra, the absolute electron temperature could be accurately measured in our lab using laser Thomson scattering to calibrate the new tungsten emission line intensity ratio method. An analysis is presented that calculates electron temperature from these tungsten emission data assuming a Maxwellian electron energy distribution contributing to direct electron impact excitation to the upper states of each transition. The results included the derivation of a calibration factor between the two experimental methods representing a previously unreported ratio of Einstein A coefficients for the 400.88-401.52 nm transitions. This derivation provides a method for future measurement of absolute electron temperature by the 400.88-401.52 nm tungsten line intensity ratio without the need for laser Thomson scattering calibration.