Spectroscopic observations of ion line-emission from a magnetically insulated ion diode

Excited ions, produced in the surface-flashover plasma in a magnetically insulated diode, spontaneously emit light from the anode plasma region as well as (if the life time of the excited level is at least a few ns) from the diode acceleration gap. The emission lines of the ions traversing the gap are shifted from their natural wavelength because of the Stark effect due to the diode electric field. If the light is viewed transverse to the acceleration direction, the line width will be mostly determined by Doppler broadening due to ion transverse velocities. The authors use the OMNI II diode (up to 500 kV, 25 kA, 80 ns) with an insulating B field of ≅12 kG and an A-K gap of ≅7mm. The light emission from the entire 6.5 x 12 cm area in front of the anode is viewed parallel to the applied B field. A spectral resolution of 0.5 A is obtained by dispersing the light using a spectrometer followed by 6 optical fibers attached to PM-tubes. Each channel output is calibrated in situ. The spatial resolution across the gap could be made as small as 0.3 mm and the temporal resolution was varied between a few to a few tens of ns. The line spectral profile is obtained at a single discharge for a given distance from the anode surface