ABSTRACT


A. N. Dharamsi and K. H. Schoenbach, "Electric field induced emission as a diagnostic tool for measurement of local electric field strengths", Journal of Applied Physics, 69,2889, 1991
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia 23529-0246
(Received 17 September 1990; accepted for publication 13 November 1990)

The phenomenon of electric field induced (EFI) emission is examined in several diatomic and polyatomic molecules. The possibility of using this phenomenon as a diagnostic tool to measure, nonintrusively, the strength and direction of local electric fields in plasmas is discussed. An estimate of the EFI signal emitted in a typical application plasma is given. This yields a lower bound on the detector sensitivity necessary to exploit EFI emission in practical applications. It is concluded that, at present, the EFI signal could be measured by some very sensitive infrared detection schemes available. Current progress in infrared detector technology, if maintained, could result in the possibility of utilizing EFI emission on a more routine basis. This would allow measurement of electric fields in plasmas of species that are not suitable candidates for any of the other currently available schemes which measure such fields.

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