Study of a new direct current atmospheric pressure glow discharge in helium

Abstract In this study a new DC-APGD operated in He was developed and characterized. The discharge is operated at 0.9 kV and about 25–35 mA and at a gas flow of 100 ml/min. The source was spectroscopically studied and parameters such as the rotational temperature (Trot), the excitation temperature (Texc), the ionization temperature (Tion) and the electron number density (ne) were determined. The current–voltage characteristic of the source was studied as well. At optimized conditions the discharge operates in the normal region of the current–voltage characteristic. Rotational and excitation temperatures determined with the use of OH band and Fe I lines as thermometric species were of the or…