A model for arc plasma's optical diagnosis by the measurement of the refractive index

A model, which introduces the ionization degree of plasma, is deduced to reconstruct the temperature and electron number density distributions for arc plasmas via the measurement of the refractive index. The rationality, applicability and superiority of the model are analyzed and discussed theoretically. To experimentally verify whether the model is rational and feasible, an argon arc plasma is chosen as a practical example for experiment, while the measurement of the refractive index is achieved by moiré deflection tomography with the probe wavelength 635 nm. The distribution and imprecision of the reconstructed temperature results indicate that the model is reasonable, feasible and dependable. Besides, the factors which may cause the imprecision of the reconstructed temperature are also analyzed and proposed.