An experiment was performed to determine the temperature distribution within a stationary plasma in atmospheric air produced by a continuously operating CO2 laser. A peak temperature of 17000 °K (±5%) was found to exist at a point 1.1 cm ahead of the focal point. The radiation surrounding the hot plasma core was found to consist primarily of the first negative system of nitrogen.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.