Determination of electron temperature in low-pressure plasmas by means of optical emission spectroscopy
S. Mitic*, B. A. Klumov*+, M. Y. Pustylnik*, G. E. Morfill*
*Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik, D-85740 Garching, Germany
+Joint Institute for High Temperatures RAS, 125412 Moscow, Russia
Abstract
A simple model, allowing to determine the electron temperature in
a steady-state low-pressure plasma, is proposed. The model makes use of
optical cross-sections and therefore takes into account direct and cascade
excitation from ground and metastable states. Spectroscopic data from Mitic
et al. (New J. Phys. 11, 083020 (2009)) are used to
illustrate the performance of the method.