- Author
-
Schenck, P. K.
|
Smyth, K. C.
- Title
- Opto-Galvanic Spectroscopy of Atomic Neutrals and Ions in Discharges.
- Coporate
- National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD
- Journal
-
Journal of the Optical Society of America,
Vol. 68,
626-627,
1978
- Keywords
-
spectrosocopy
|
electronics
- Identifiers
- opto-galvanic spectroscopy; atomic neutrals; ions
- Abstract
- With an atomic species in a discharge is irradiated at wavelengths corresponding to electronic transitions easily detected voltage changes are produced. These voltage signals are due to absorption by the discharge species. Electronic detection offers the advantage that neither the absorption from the incident beam nor the re-emitted fluorescence need be monitored optically for spectroscopic and analytical investigations. The first observations of photon-induced voltage changes in discharges were made by Penning almost 50 years ago. Despite this early start, very few similar experiments have been performed since then. Recently, the visible absorption spectra of a variety of atoms have been observed using tunable dye lasers, and neon discharges have been studied in some mechanisms involved in producing the voltage signals. In this paper we report the first observations of absorption by atomic ions using opto-galvanic spectroscopy.