OES investigation of microhollow cathode discharge in argon

As to microhollow cathode discharge(MHCD), the gas temperature determined from the emission spectroscopy with traces of nitrogen added. The recorded nitrogen emission spectra are compared to the simulated ones to deduce the rotational distributions, hense the gas temperature. In argon discharges, the electron density was also evaluated through the Stark broadening of the Balmer Hβ line from hydrogen present as trace impurity in the gas. The electron density is in the order of 1014 cm-3 while the gas temperature increases with the increasing gas pressure and the discharge current and can reach 1000 K in the stable glow regime. 1