Experimental determination of emission cross sections for electron induced processes in a supersonic argon jet

TL;DR

This paper introduces a spectroscopic method to measure emission cross sections in a supersonic argon jet, enabling detailed analysis of atomic and cluster flow properties through VUV radiation flux measurements.

Contribution

It presents a novel spectroscopic technique for absolute measurements of VUV radiation flux in supersonic argon jets, allowing determination of atomic and cluster densities and emission cross sections.

Findings

Measured spectral distribution of VUV radiation flux (50-150 nm)

Determined atomic and cluster densities in the jet

Estimated emission cross sections for argon resonance lines

Abstract

The article discusses an original spectroscopic method for the study of supersonic argon jets in atomic and cluster flow regimes. The method is based on absolute measurements of the VUV radiation flux from a supersonic argon jet induced by a 1 keV electron beam. The integral radiation flux and spectral distribution of the radiation flux density of a supersonic argon jet in the range of 50-150 nanometers were measured, which made it possible to determine the density of the non-condensed atomic component, the fraction of condensate, and the density of clusters in a supersonic argon jet at given parameters of its flow into vacuum. The obtained parameters also allowed us to estimate the emission cross sections for the argon resonance lines ArI ({\lambda}=104.8 nm, {\lambda}=106.7 nm) and the cluster continuum {\lambda}=127 nm.