Modified Fowler–Milne method for the spectroscopic determination of thermal plasma temperature without the measurement of continuum radiation

Abstract

A technique based on the Fowler-Milne method for the spectroscopic determination of thermal plasma temperatures without measuring continuum radiation is presented. This technique avoids the influence of continuum radiation with the combined line and continuum emission coefficients to derive the plasma temperatures. The amount of continuum emission coefficient is estimated by using an expression related to the Biberman factors. Parameters that affect the accuracy of the proposed technique and errors in the measured plasma temperatures are analyzed. It is shown that, by using the Ar I 696.5 nm line with a bandwidth of 3.27 nm without taking into account the continuum radiation, the plasma temperature measured will be lower on the order of up to 1000-3000 K for temperatures from 20,000 to 24,000 K. The theoretically predicted temperature errors are in good agreement with the experimental results, indicating that the proposed technique is reliable for plasma temperature measurement.