THE DECAY OF THE POPULATIONS OF METASTABLE ATOMS AND IONS FROM THE SAME D-C. DISCHARGE IN NEON

Abstract

Measurements of electron density and of the population of the 3P2 metastable state have been made following cessation of a d-c. discharge in neon gas. Determinations of these populations were made under identical conditions at accurately determined times after termination of the discharge and decay curves were plotted for a pressure range from 0.5 to 12.0 mm. Hg. At low pressures, where diffusion is the principal factor in the decay, both curves are exponential and show the same mean life, within the limits of error. Values of the diffusion constants obtained from these curves are consistent with the results of previous workers in both fields. At higher pressures the metastable decay remains exponential while the reciprocal of the electron population changes linearly with time. In general, the two decays are unrelated. Only at the highest pressure studied, and in this case for only the first half millisecond, was a measurable effect of positive ion recombination found in the metastable population curve.