THz gas discharge in nitrogen as a source of ultraviolet radiation

Abstract

This work presents the results of investigation of THz gas discharge in inhomogeneous flow of nitrogen. As a source of sub-millimetre radiation we used 40 kW@670 GHz gyrotron created in IAP RAS. It is shown that, despite the tendency of the discharge in electromagnetic wave beams to propagate towards the heating radiation from the breakdown region, in the case of a strongly inhomogeneous gas flow (nitrogen in our case), conditions can be created under which the discharge practically does not propagate and becomes point-like. The features of the glow of a THz discharge in a nitrogen flow in a wide range of background gas pressures are studied. The presence of a powerful afterglow in some bands of the second positive system of nitrogen at high pressures was demonstrated. The prospects of using such a discharge as a source of UV radiation are discussed.