Channels of energy transfer to atomic nitrogen in excited argon nitrogen mixtures

Abstract

The vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) and ultraviolet (UV) emissions of gaseous mixtures of argon with a small amount of nitrogen were investigated in the afterglow of a pulsed transverse discharge. The time dependences of the intensity of the VUV argon continuum at 126.0 nm, the UV nitrogen molecular band at 337.0 nm, and the VUV nitrogen atomic lines at 149.47 and 174.52 nm were analysed in the total pressure range 150–600 hPa and the range 0.125–1.5 hPa of the admixture concentrations. The results show that all these emissions have a common source of excitation energy, namely the atomic metastable 3P2 state of argon. However, atomic nitrogen also receives energy from the atomic 3P1 state of argon and from the excited Ar2* (1u) molecules.