Absolute intensity measurements in a helium plasma

• Main Author: MacLatchy, Cyrus Shantz
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2011
• Subjects: Plasma (Ionized gases); Helium
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/37330

The temperature of a Helium plasma produced in a shock tube has been determined from absolute intensity measurements. The plasma was considered to be homogeneous, transparent and in local thermodynamic equilibrium. The emissivity of the plasma has been measured by comparing the plasma radiation to the radiation from a carbon arc through a simple optical system. The influence of errors in measured parameters and the presence of impurities is discussed. Temperatures which depend on large exponential terms are relatively insensitive to both errors in measurement and the impurity content of the plasma. The accuracy of absolute intensity measurements is at best comparable to relative intensity measurements. === Science, Faculty of === Physics and Astronomy, Department of === Graduate