RADIATION-FIELD EFFECTS ON THE SPECTROSCOPIC PROPERTIES OF SEEDED PLASMAS

The presence of an external radiation field can affect the level popul ations that occur in a high-temperature plasma. The level populations determine, in part, the emissivity of the medium. Hence, processes ind uced by the radiation field must be included in spectral simulations. In the present paper, the effect of black body radiation with temperat ures of several hundred eV on mid-Z seeded plasmas, with electron temp erature between 100 and 4000 eV, and electron densities between 10(19) and 10(22) cm-3 is studied. Particular attention is focused on line r atios which are commonly used for diagnostics. It is shown that the ra diation field can have significant impact on the spectroscopic propert ies of plasmas under these conditions. A possible electron temperature diagnostic using iron is suggested for moderate radiation temperature s.