Spectroscopic investigations of a dielectric-surface-discharge plasma source

Abstract

Spectroscopic investigations of the properties of a plasma produced by a flashboard plasma source, commonly used in pulsed plasma experiments, are presented. The plasma is used to prefill a planar 0.4-ms-conduction time plasma opening switch (POS). A novel gas-doping technique and a secondary surface flashover plasma source are used to locally dope the plasma with gaseous and solid materials, respectively, allowing for spatially-resolved measurements. The electron density, temperature, and plasma composition are determined from spectral line intensities and line profiles. Detailed collisional-radiative modeling is used to analyze the observed line intensities. The propagation velocity and divergence angle of various ions are determined from time-of-flight measurements and Doppler broadening of spectral lines, respectively. This allows for distinguishing the secondary plasma ejected from the POS electrodes from the plasma of the flashboard source.