Optical radiation of high-pressure xenon discharge plasma: spectral, integral and energy characteristics

A short-arc xenon discharge of high (ultrahigh) pressure with a thoriated tungsten cathode, which is the reason for the presence of thorium atoms in the discharge gap, is investigated. A one dimensional problem is considered; a discharge between two infinite planes. Based on the previously developed model, the volume-integral optical radiation of plasma is calculated, to which both processes associated with xenon atoms and ions and those associated with thorium atoms and ions contribute. Radiation distributions along the discharge axis, including spectral distributions, are obtained over a wide range of discharge conditions, as well as the efficiency of optical radiation generation in different spectral ranges. It is shown that the presence of thorium atoms in the plasma strongly affects the optical characteristics of the plasma, including the distribution of thorium and xenon radiation along the discharge axis. At the same time, its total value and distribution along the discharge axis varies relatively little, which is largely due to the geometry of the problem and the high efficiency of converting electrical energy into optical radiation of the high-pressure xenon arc discharge in question.