Optical Radiation during Sputtering of Lithium into a Noble Gas Using a Nanosecond Electron Beam

Abstract

The optical radiation in a gaseous medium upon the irradiation of a lithium layer with a fast electron beam of a 5 ns duration has been studied. The irradiation chamber was filled with argon, krypton, or xenon at a pressure of 10 kPa up to 60 kPa. The lines of lithium atoms appear in the emission spectrum at a lithium layer temperature of 650–680 K, and the intensity of these lines sharply increases with the increasing temperature of the lithium layer. The optical radiation arises from both the transitions of noble gas atoms and the transition of the lithium atom in a time of about 20–30 ns. The duration of the radiation pulses at half maximum at temperatures above 800 K was 60–100 ns at a wavelength of 610.4 nm and 140–220 ns at 670.8 nm in krypton and argon. The various mechanisms for the population of lithium levels during the radiation pulse are discussed.