Spectroscopic investigations of a ferroelectric plasma cathode

Results of spectroscopic investigations of the plasma formed on the surface of a ferroelectric cathode under the application of a driving pulse are presented. It was shown that light emission from the excited ions and neutral atoms of materials of the front electrode and the ferroelectric ceramics (Cu, Pb, Sr, Ba, Ti, and H) appears within the first 50 ns after the beginning of the driving pulse. By analyzing of the Doppler broadening of the observed spectral line profiles, it was found that the temperature of ions and neutral atoms is /spl les/0.8 eV. The analysis of the Stark broadening of the H/sub /spl alpha// and H/sub /spl beta// spectral lines showed the absence of a high (>1 kV/cm) electric field, which could be developed at the surface of the ferroelectric due to the appearance of noncompensated polarization charges. The same Stark analysis showed that the plasma density does not exceed 10/sup 13/ cm/sup -3/. By comparison of the obtained relative intensities of the H/sub /spl alpha// and H/sub /spl beta// spectral line intensities and results of collision radiative modeling the plasma electron temperature was found to be /spl sim/3 eV.