Preferential Ionization of Argon in the Presence of Air and its Application to Electric Discharge Devices

Abstract

IN this Laboratory we have used the emission from electric discharges in gases, both for promoting fast reactions in photosensitive materials (for example, crystals of metallic azides), and for illuminating such events when recorded by the techniques of high-speed photography. For both requirements it is desirable not only that the discharge be of consistent and reproducibly high luminance and illuminating power, but also that it shall be reproducible in both space and time and in electrical properties. To these ends investigations are being undertaken here to determine the effects, inter alia, of variations of the principal parameters of the discharge gap, for example, length and diameter of discharge, type of gas, presence and type of discharge tube or surface, method of initiation, etc. Two types of discharge, (a) that of a duration of several milliseconds at approximately constant intensity, and (b) that of a duration of a microsecond or less possessing short rise and decay periods, are of particular interest.