Accurate atomic data for industrial plasma applications

Summary form only given. Reliable branching fraction, transition probability and transition wavelength data for radiative dipole transitions of atoms and ions in plasma are important in many industrial applications. Optical plasma diagnostics and modeling of the radiation transport in electrical discharge plasmas (e.g. in electrical lighting) depend on accurate basic atomic data. NIST has an ongoing experimental research program to provide accurate atomic data for radiative transitions. The new NIST UV-vis-IR high resolution Fourier transform spectrometer has become an excellent tool for accurate and efficient measurements of numerous transition wavelengths and branching fractions in a wide wavelength range. Recently, we have also begun to employ photon counting techniques for very accurate measurements of branching fractions of weaker spectral lines with the intent to improve the overall accuracy for experimental branching fractions to better than 5%.