Simulation of the contours of spectral lines of closed-ARC radiation

Simulated contours of self-reversed lines of Tl at 535 nm (7²S_1/2−6²P_3/2) and 378 nm (7²S_1/2-6²P_1/2) in alternating-current closed-arc radiation in mercury vapor with an addition of Tll were compared with experimental contours. It is shown that while a single self-reversed contour has many different sets of model parameters that ensure coincidence of experimental and calculated profiles, in the case of operation with a large data file of contours that correspond to different directions of observation along chords perpendicular to the discharge axis, and with different lines that have a common level, such a set of parameters becomes virtually unique. Instantaneous spatial distributions of Hg and Tl atoms in the ground state and of Tl atoms in the 6²P_3/2 state are determined and the parameters of the van der Waals broadening of the 7²S_1/2 level are found. It is shown that a considerable “red” shift of absorption contours in the outer layers of the discharge is observed. The results obtained contradict the presumed existence of local thermodynamic equilibrium in the given discharge. Reported at the Conference “Plasma Physics and Plasma Technologies,” Minsk, September 15–19, 1997 Petrozavodsk State University, 33, Lenin Ave, Petrozavodsk, 185640, Russia. Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 65, No. 5, pp. 761–768, September–October, 1998.