ON THE 'SATURATION' LUMINANCE OF HIGH-DENSITY MICROSECOND-ARC CHANNELS.

Abstract

The emission of high-current microsecond-arc channels with a 1-mm gap has been studied in argon and helium by means of a 20-nsec Kerr-cell shutter and profiles of the relative luminance B determined from photographs of the arc image. The method is practically unaffected by instabilities in arc position, and the accuracy of relative luminance values has been perfected to a scatter smaller than plus or minus 5%. From maximum values of the 'saturation' luminance B* in the axis of the arc channel observed over a wide range of arc current altered by the gas pressure, a ratio of B*He/B*A = 1.52 for the two gases has been determined. The luminance profile across the arc channel demonstrates increasing opacity after saturation is reached. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 1966
Accession Number
AD0643515

Entities

People

  • Heinz Fischer
  • Lothar Michel

Organizations

  • Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accuracy
  • Cells
  • Emission
  • High Density
  • Images
  • Instability
  • Kerr Cells
  • Luminance
  • Microsecond Time
  • Photographic Materials
  • Photographs
  • Photography
  • Saturation

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Mathematics or Statistics
  • Plasma Physics.
  • Vision Science/Vision Psychology/Cognitive Neuroscience.