Quenching of Na Resonance Radiation; Collisions of Excited Sodium with Atoms, Molecules and Electrons in the ICP (Inductively Coupled Plasma)

摘要

Spatial distributions of Na resonance level lifetimes in the inductively coupled plasma (ICP) are measured by time-resolved laser-excited fluorimetry. In order to elucidate the quenching mechanism, the lifetimes obtained are compared to theoretical values estimated from the quenching rate coefficients and number densities of colliding species. As a result, it is shown that resonance level Na atoms are mainly deactivated by electrons at lower heights in the plasma, while collisions with nitrogen molecules entrained from the surrounding atmosphere dominated the quenching reaction in the tail flame region.