Spectral Evaluation of Windowless Argon Discharge Vacuum Ultraviolet Lamps for Matrix Isolation Spectroscopy

Abstract

Windowless argon discharge tubes used as resonance lamps in matrix isolation experiments produced strong argon resonance radiation at 1048 and 1067 Å, and at low pressures, the Ar⁺ resonance doublet at 920 and 932 Å made a major contribution to the vacuum ultraviolet spectrum. At discharge pressures below 60 µ, the relative intensities of the 1048, 1067 Å argon resonance doublet are reversed in favor of the 1067 Å line, although the Ar⁺ resonance lines are substantially increased relative to the neutral atom emissions.