Deviations From Equilibrium of Thallium Level Populations in a Metal Halide Arc Lamp

Published

July 1, 2004

Author(s)

D Karahourniotis, John J. Curry, E Drakakis, Eric C. Benck

Abstract

The excitation equilibrium in a metal halide lamp was studied using a method based on optically thick lines without the assumption of local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE). The lamp has a diameter of 15.4 mm, an electrode gap of 28 mm, and was operated with an electromagnetic ballast at 60 Hz and 265 W. The lamp contains 16 mg of Hg, 0.3 mg of TlI, 0.4 mg of TmI3, and 0.5 mg Ar. The working pressure is approximately 3 atm. A 3.3 m Czerny-Turner spectrograph in combination with an intensified charge-coupled device camera were used to obtain time-resolved spectra of self-reversed lines of Tl and Hg. The Tl 5350 and 3776 lines were strongly self-reversed at all times and were studied to determine if they might be used for determination of the electron temperature in much the same way that the Hg 5461 and 4047 lines are used. The Tl lines terminate in the 6 2P1/2 ground level and the 6 2P3/2 metastable level, respectively. These levels are separated by only 0.97 eV and should be strongly coupled by inelastic electron collisions. Analysis of the Tl 5350 and 3776 lines indicates strong deviations from equilibrium in the populations of the Tl 6 2P1/2 and 6 2P3/2 levels. At the time of current zero-crossing, the population of the 6 2P3/2 metastable level is seen to exceed the population of the ground level.

Proceedings Title

Light Sources 2004

Conference Dates

July 18-22, 2004

Conference Location

Toulouse, 1, FR

Conference Title

International Symposium on the Science and Technology of Light Sources

Pub Type

Conferences

Keywords

arc lamp, mercury, metal-halide, plasma, spectroscopy, thallium

Citation

Karahourniotis, D. , Curry, J. , Drakakis, E. and Benck, E. (2004), Deviations From Equilibrium of Thallium Level Populations in a Metal Halide Arc Lamp, Light Sources 2004, Toulouse, 1, FR (Accessed September 19, 2024)