Use of the 447 nm He I line to determine electron concentrations

The helium 447 nm complex line has been excited in a wall-stabilized arc fed at atmospheric pressure by pure He, He-H₂, He-Ne-H₂ or He-Ar-H₂ mixtures. Photoelectric endon observations of the central part of the arc channel were made with high spatial (1/600) and spectral (53,000) resolution.A collection of 88 helium 447 nm line profiles, of which 75 were recorded simultaneously with H_β and Ne I or Ar II line profiles, yielded information about the electron concentration (2 X 10²⁰-2 X 10²² m^-3), temperature and relative ion composition of the plasma. Plots have been made of the forbidden to allowed peak separations (S), forbidden to allowed relative intensities of the peaks (F/A) and dips (i.e. the minimum intensities between lines) to allowed peak intensities (D/A) as functions of electron concentration, temperature and ionic composition in different plasmas.The peak separations depend only on the electron concentration. Other characteristic line-profile parameters (F/A and D/A) show weak ion motion with a strong electron-concentration influence. We propose simple formulae, which may be useful for practical determinations of the electron concentrations in helium-containing plasmas with an accuracy of ±15% and without taking into account either the chemical composition of the plasma or the temperature.