Study of the influence of the discharge tube material on the dc glow discharge in CO2 laser mixture

Abstract

We report on investigations of the low-pressure DC glow discharge in CO2 laser mixture (6% CO2: 24% N2: 70% He) by means of optical emission spectroscopy and Langmuir probes measurements. The investigation of the main spectral systems has been performed in two discharge tubes of the same geometry but different material in order to study possible influences of the tube material on the discharge properties. One discharge tube has been made of Silica, the other one of Simax (composition of Simax is the same as Pyrex glass). Different pressure dependencies of CO spectral bands and the electric field strengths in these tubes have been observed. This result indicates distinctions in heterogeneous plasma-chemical interactions on the discharge tube walls.