INFLUENCE OF EXCITED ATOMS ON THE PLASMA REFRACTIVITY

The influence of excited atoms on the plasma refractivity is studied for hydrogen and argon plasmas. Using tabulated f-values [1] in the case of hydrogen and calculated f-values [2], [3] for argon, the index of refraction is obtained for typical arc conditions. The results indicate that the accuracy of electron density determination in plasmas from laser interferometry is not severely influenced by the excited species. This is clearly a contradiction to the interpretation of the results of a similar study of hydrogen given by GLASSER et al. [4].