Electron-temperature, density and gas-temperature measurements in an argon afterglow

Microwave and spectroscopic methods of monitoring the time-varying density and temperature of the electrons, as well as the temperature of the neutral background gas, have been applied to an argon afterglow. Electron-ion recombination coefficients were extracted from the decay rate over the electron-density range 1013¿1011cm¿3, concerning which little information had previously been reported.