A capillary discharge as a pseudo-Planck radiator in the vacuum ultraviolet

A pseudo-Planck radiator at the wavelengths 700.2 Angstrom, 713.8 Angstrom, 770.4 Angstrom and 780.3 Angstrom based on a long capillary discharge was realized and investigated. Conditions were found for which the emission of the resonance lines of ArVIII (700.2 and 713.8 Angstrom) and NeVIII (770.4 and 780.3 Angstrom) becomes optically thick. The characteristics of this ra diation were measured: the energy emitted per solid angle in each of these lines is similar to 370 mu J sr(-1), the duration is similar to 700 ns for the argon lines and similar to 500 ns for the neon lines, the radiant inten sity is similar to 700 W sr(-1) for argon and 1000 W sr(-1) for neon.