Light Emission from Atom Beam - Plasma Interactions

A beam of atoms penetrating a plasma can be considered a line source of contaminants. Atoms excited by the plasma electrons yield information about the spatially resolved electron density and temperature. The light intensity as a function of time and position along the beam can be conveniently observed with an optical multichannel analyzer Since the beam atoms are different from the plasma constituents, the method does not suffer from self-absorption.