ION-ION NEUTRALIZATION OF IODINE IN RADIOFREQUENCY INDUCTIVE DISCHARGES OF XE AND I-2 MIXTURES

Xe/I-2 low-pressure electric discharges are being developed as efficie nt, long-lived ultraviolet lighting sources. In this work the kinetics of low pressure, 0.5-5 Torr, radio-frequency inductively excited disc harges sustained in Xe and I-2 were investigated to determine the sour s of radiating states. The diagnostics applied in this study include o ptical absorption and emission spectroscopy, microwave interferometry, and microwave absorption. We found that in rime modulated discharges, the emissions from excited states of atomic iodine decays with time c onstants of hundreds of microseconds. These observations are consisten t with those states being populated by ion-ion neutralization. Electro n-ion recombination leading to excited states appears not to be an imp ortant source of emission.