A combined Thomson-Rayleigh scattering device is discussed. It consists of a Nd:YAG laser as a light source in combination with a multichannel detection technique consisting of a gated light amplifier in combination with an optical multichannel analyzer. Special attention is focused on the analysis of the measured spectra. Including convolution methods and taking into account weak coherent effects increases the dynamic range and the accuracy of the measured electron density n, and temperature T, and neutral particle density no. Accuracies of 1%-4% for n,, 2%-6% for T, and lo%-50% for n, depending on the plasma condition are obtained. The dynamic range for n, is 7 x 1017-1021 m -3, for no is 1020-1023 m -3 and for T, is

A one-dimensional LTE model of a microwave-driven sulfur lamp is presented to aid our understanding of the discharge. The energy balance of the lamp is determined by Ohmic input on one hand and transport due to conductive heat transfer and molecular radiation on the other. We discuss the origin of operational trends in the spectrum, present the model and discuss how the material properties of the plasma are determined. Not only are temperature profiles and electric field strengths simulated but also the spectrum of the lamp from 300 to 900 nm under various conditions of input power and lamp filling pressure. We show that simulated spectra demonstrate observed trends and that radiated power increases linearly with input power as is also found from experiment.

Remote deposition allows separate optimization of the plasma production source and of the deposition process. To improve the ionization performance of the source, an argon cascaded arc plasma is studied by simulations. Improvements of the source performance in ion yield are achieved by constricting the bore of the arc channel near the entrance. Such a geometrical pinch construction leads to a higher neutral density at the arc inlet which results in increased ionization in the cascaded arc. The improved ionization performance is analysed by solving numerically the conservation laws of mass, momentum and energy in a two-dimensional hydrodynamic approximation using a pressure linked algorithm. The results are compared with those of a simplified one-dimensional formulation in order to identify the main mechanisms. The results indicate that, by constricting the bore of the arc channel, a very high ionization degree can be obtained.

A numerical model is constructed using the PLASIMO toolkit to simulate a microwave configuration which is similar to that which is in use for optical glass fibre production. The simulations offer the flow patterns and the electromagnetic (EM) energy incoupling of a two-temperature argon plasma. The Yee algorithm was used for the EM module, whereas the Semi implicit method for pressure linked equations algorithm was used to calculate the pressure and velocity field. It is found that at 400 W coupling of 2.46 GHz EM radiation in 1000 Pa argon results in a plasma that is not in local thermodynamic equilibrium, in the sense that Te/Th ≥ 4 and the ionization degree is smaller than that predicted by the Saha equations. The model results are subjected to various sanity checks.