Rayleigh scattering by sodium vapour in flames

In this paper we report on Rayleigh scattering measurements of sodium on the Na D-doublet in several premixed, laminar, shielded H₂/O₂/N₂, H₂/O₂/Ar and C₂H₂/O₂/N₂ flames at one atm. We performed the measurements under non-saturation conditions. The tunable CW dye-laser used produced linearly polarized light. The laser frequency was tuned well outside the absorption-line width of the sodium D-doublet lines. We have compared the ratio of Rayleigh scattering to collison-induced resonance-fluorescence (measured at fixed detunings of the laser) with theoretical predictions. In some flames, we also measured Rayleigh scattering and its polarization, as a function of detuning of the laser in the 4–40 Å region, for the red Na-D₁ and the blue Na-D₂ wings and found good agreement with theoretical predictions. Polarization of collision-induced fluorescence did not exceed 4% in this wavelength range.