Observation of continuous KrCl excimer fluorescence in microwave discharges employing binary mixtures of Kr and Cl2

Abstract

A novel apparatus was designed to couple 2.45-GHz microwave radiation into a gas discharge. Using this apparatus, continuous-wave 222-nm B → X fluorescence of the KrF excimer system was observed in a binary mixture of chlorine and krypton. The effects of gas composition and total pressure on the fluorescence intensity at a wavelength of 222 nm was investigated. Spectra over the wavelength region of 200–320 nm were recorded for various gas compositions near the optimum total pressures for excimer fluorescence. The 222-nm B → X KrCl excimer transition was apparent in all cases and had a full-width half-maximum (FWHM) of 3 nm. In addition, the 258-nm Cl2 excimer transition was also evident with a FWHM of 5 nm. Both the center frequencies and widths of these transitions were constant for the conditions tested.