TIME-DEPENDENT BEHAVIOR OF 10830 A LINE IN A LOW-PRESSURE HELIUM AFTERGLOW

The time-dependent behavior of the intensity of the 10 830 line emitted from a pulsed helium afterglow at 3 Torr has been investigated with an improved spectrometric system of sufficient sensitivity-bandwidth ratio to resolve the behavior of this line over a 50-msec time interval. A high degree of correlation was observed between the 10 830 line intensity and the 4650 molecular-band intensity for afterglow times in excess of 2 msec. A recombination of the He2+ ion leading to dissociation and having a rate coefficient of 2 × 10-11cm3 / sec at 1012 electrons/cm3 is consistent with data. © 1969 The American Physical Society.