Thresholds for Secondary Light Emission by Noble Gases

Abstract

This work concerns the hypothesis that direct excitation of gaseous media by migrating electrons under the influence of weak electric fields is the dominating process by which secondary light is emitted from pure noble gases. Determinations both experimental and theoretical, as well as compilations of previous data, are made for the lower limit of the reduced electric field, for which secondary light emission from gaseous media displays a sharp increase. A detailed comparison of the theoretical results with more reliable published experimental data shows, in general, very good agreement.