An investigation of the mechanisms of production of Ar+ emission using Doppler shifted Fourier transform spectroscopy

Use of high resolution Fourier transform spectroscopy has allowed the study of the Doppler shifts of 4p Ar+ emission lines found in Ar+ lasers, as a function of polarity and pressure of a Ar/He discharge. The results indicate that the emitting 4p states can be distinctly divided into low and high energy groups, which are populated respectively by He metastable excitation of ground state Ar ions and electron impact on ground state neutral Ar.