Studies of Optically Pumped High-Pressure Nonequalibrium Plasmas

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The main thrust of this project is an in-depth experimental and theoretical study of the use of optical pumping, as an alternative to direct electron impact ionization, for the production of low translational temperature (of the order of 500 K), highly non-equilibrium, high-pressure plasmas. The approach is based on the combination of resonant absorption of continuous wave infrared radiation from a CO laser with anharmonic collisional vibration-vibration energy transfer. The work will investigate the following questions: 1) What is the principal mechanism and the rate of free electron loss in these systems? 2) Can the electron density be increased efficiently while maintaining unconditional stability? and 3) How quantitatively can the coupling between free electrons and the vibrational mode be predicted?