Plasma diagnostics of barrier-torch discharge in argon flow in a capillary by cross-correlation spectroscopy

The radiation kinetics of the plasma of barrier-torch disrcharge in argon flow in a capillary has been studied by cross-correlation spectroscopy. It was established that the discharge emission spectrum consists of peaks of electronically excited states of argon, bands of hydroxyl radicals, and a second positive system of nitrogen. An analysis of the spatio-temporal distributions of emission intensity for the selected spectral indicators showed that the causes of the torch are ionization waves that extend through the capillary from the electrode system with a speed of 10⁵ m/s and project up to 3–4 mm. It was established that the formation of electronically excited molecules of nitrogen N₂(C ³Π _u ) in the torch of discharge occurs mainly on the reaction between metastable electronically excited atoms of argon and molecules of nitrogen in the electronic ground state.