High-voltage optical emission in binary gaseous mixtures of N2

Abstract

Optical emission in 1:1 binary gaseous mixtures under high voltage displays a varying character depending on pressure, applied voltage polarity, and chemical nature of the mixture. Under negative polarity, in pure N2 and 50% mixture of Ar, O2 and CO2, emission stemming from N2 + is enhanced relative to emission from neutral N2. In mixtures of N2 with gases containing halogens (CCl4, CHCl3, CH2Cl2, CF3H, CF2Cl2 and SF6) a reversal is observed, i.e. the N2 + emission is suppressed. An enhancement factor is defined as the ratio of the emission under negative polarity to positive polarity to quatify this polarity dependence. This enhancement factor varies between 0.01 and 50 depending on the second component in the mixture © 1995 Elsevier Science B.V.