KRYPTON EXCIMER EMISSION FROM DISCHARGE-EXCITED RARE-GAS CLUSTERS

We report the time-resolved observation of krypton second continuum ex cimer emission near 146 nm from a pulsed-discharge excited gas jet. Th e excimer emission reaches a peak intensity several millimeters from t he nozzle and lasts up to several microseconds after the termination o f the discharge. We report the temporal behavior of the excimer emissi on as a function of gas pressure, discharge energy, and position withi n the cathode-anode gap. The temporal and spatial characteristics of t he excimer emission during the discharge are due to cluster excitation in the jet expansion region and is from a combination of the A 3SIGMA (u)+ and the B 1SIGMA(u)+ states. A kinetic mechanism involving metast able atoms and clusters is described to explain the observed afterglow emission.