Measured cathode fall characteristics depending on the diameter of a hydrogen hollow cathode discharge

Abstract

In this work, Doppler-free two photon optogalvanic spectroscopy is used to measure the electric field strength in the cathode fall region of a hollow cathode discharge, operated in pure hydrogen, via the Stark splitting of the 2S level of atomic hydrogen. The cathode fall characteristics are analysed for various pressures and in a wide range of discharge currents. Tungsten is used as the cathode material, because it allows for reliable measurements in a fairly wide range of discharge conditions and because of its minimal sputtering. Two cathode diameters (10 mm and 15 mm) are used to study the dependence of the cathode fall on discharge geometry. The measurements reveal that the cathode fall characteristics are quite independent on the cathode diameter for equal cathode current density; hence the measurements can be used to test one dimensional modelling of the cathode fall region for low pressure hydrogen discharges using e.g. plane parallel electrodes.