Stark broadening and shift of fluorine I lines

Stark widths and shifts of some prominent F I spectral lines have been determined experimentally in aZ-pinch plasma in dichlorodifluoromethane on a shot-to-shot basis. The electron density was determined by the laser interferometry while the electron temperature was measured from relative intensities of Cl II lines. Temperatures were in the range 19100–36200 °K; electron densities varied from 0.71 to 1.43×10¹⁷cm^?3. Measured F I linewidths and shifts are compared with theoretical results computed by Griem and it is shown that a) experimental widths are systematically smaller and the degree of discrepancy increases with temperature, b) line shifts are also smaller than theoretical with exception of multiplets 5 and 6 with the shifts of opposite sign than theoretically predicted, c) experimental shift-to-width ratios decrease with the temperature but less than theoretically expected. Attention is drawn in general, to the systematic discrepancy between experimental results for neutral atom lines and the theory. The magnitude of this disagreement is related to the relative position of the energy levels of spectral line to the ionisation limit.