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We report on the absolute density and the spatial distribution of silicon atoms in a SiH4-He-Ar dc glow discharge measured by the laser-induced fluorescence method. The absolute sensitivity of the fluorescence-photon-counting system was calibrated by using the same system to measure Rayleigh scattering by Ar gas in the discharge chamber. The fluorescence quantum efficiency and the polarization degree of emitted light were measured to confirm the absence of excited-state quenching induced by collisions with the buffer-gas atoms. The measured spatial distribution profile of the ground-state silicon atoms is compared with that of the excited-state atoms.

We determined the extinction ratio of a polarization analyser on the basis of Malus' law by relating the transmitted light intensity to the analyser azimuth measured at only a small range of analyser azimuth angles around the minimum position, thus avoiding the requirement for an optical detector with a high dynamic range. To adjust the orientation of the analyser azimuth we manufactured a precise rotation stage which had an angular resolution of less than rad. The minimum value of the extinction ratio was , obtained for a polarization analyser of the Glan - Taylor type. To calibrate the apparatus we measured the Faraday rotation of a glass plate placed in a magnetic field in the optical path.