Continuum Radiation And Power Interruption

Continuum radiation and Power Interruption

Continuum radiation

The radiation that is produced by a plasma consists mainly of line radiation, i.e. radiation with very sharp wavelengths. However, a small part of the light from a plasma is resulting from electron collisions, recombination and so on. This radiation has no sharp wavelengths and is called the continuum radiation. The intensity of this continuous background depends on a number of parameters, among which the electron temperature and density. Therefore this technique also provides a way to measure at least one of these when the other is known from other diagnostic techniques.

Power Interruption

Another diagnostic tool is interruption of the power to the plasma for a short time, usually about 100 us. The reaction of the plasma upon switching off the power, and later the reaction upon switching on can give some insight in the plasma. During the interruption of the power, all diagnostic techniques mentioned before can be applied in order to get the (time dependent) behaviour of plasma parameters. Of course, timing is a critical point in this kind of measurements. As an example of the use of this technique, a sketch of the typical response of the intensity of some spectral lines is shown as a function of time..... {Bolzmann- en Saha respons}