Multiple M-Effect Signal in Noble Gases and Hydrogen Mixture Discharge

The M-effect (monochromatization-effect) is a powerful process which can give high intensity monochromatic spectra with a certain wavelength depending on the type of used gas mixtures to generate the plasma state. The effect consists in the emission of a single spectral line emerging from plasma under specific experimental conditions involving one electropositive gas and one electronegative gas mixture. For example, in the case of Ne-H-2 mixture, a clear monochrome radiation was obtained, corresponding to the lambda(Ne)=585.3 nm wavelength at 2p(1)-1(s2) transition in the Paschen notation, the pressures ranging between 10-100 torr. In this paper we prove the general character of this effect, i.e. if the optical emission spectra (OES) reduced to selective lines can be noticed also in other multiple gas mixture discharges. The Ne-Ar-Xe mixture discharges with different percentages of H-2 as electronegative gas added in has been investigated. The triple M-effect, means three specific monochromatic lines, could be revealed in the OES at 50% of H-2 addition in Ne-Ar-Xe mixture. (C) 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim