Emission from a Transverse Volume Discharge in Neon with Small Admixtures of Water Vapor and Air

Emission from the plasma of a pulsed discharge in neon with small admixtures of water vapor and air in the wavelength range 210–620 nm is investigated. A transverse volume discharge with spark UV preionization is ignited in neon at a pressure of 100–200 kPa and charging voltage of U[sub ch] <= 20 kV. It is shown that the discharge acts as a source of pulsed UV radiation on OH(A–X) ((lambda) = 308–314 nm) and NO(B–X) (247.8 nm) transitions, which is of interest for the use in an ecologically safe lamp based on the mixtures of neon with water vapor and air. In the visible spectral region, plasma emission consists of the NeI (3s,3s[sup ʹ]–3p,3p[sup ʹ]) band and H[sub (beta)]486.1-nm spectral line. On the short-wavelength side of the spectrum, a broadband emission (the third continuum of neon) is observed, whose intensity increases with increasing neon pressure and decreasing emission wavelength.