Investigation of the Stark broadening of Balmer beta

The Stark broadening of the Balmer line Hsub(β) was studied in a high-current wall-stabilised arc at electron densities between 1.75 and 14.4 x 1016 cm-3. The electron density was obtained by means of a two-wavelength Michelson interferometer. The reduced half-widths of Hsub(β) were compared with the theories of previous workers and showed a slight increase in the reduced half-widths with increasing electron density as predicted by such theories. The absolute values, however, were smaller than the theoretical ones. The results were also compared with experimental data obtained by other investigators. (author)