Measurement of Excited States Density and the VUV-Radiation in the Pulsed Xenon Medium Pressure Discharge

Time resolved absolute density measurements of the 1s5 (metastable) and 1s4 (resonance) level in the positive column of a pulsed xenon gas discharge for gas pressures between 1 and 40 Torr and currents between 100 and 300 mA are presented. The densities ranged from 1 × 10¹¹ to 5 × 10¹² cm^?3 and were found to be ten times larger in the afterglow than in the active part of the discharge. The enhanced radiation obtained in the afterglow in the near infrared regions as well as in the VUV region is caused by a dissociative recombination and formation of excimer states.