SIMULATION OF THE ANGULAR-DISTRIBUTION OF RESONANCE RADIATION FROM A POSITIVE-COLUMN DISCHARGE

A Monte Carlo simulation of radiation transport is used to determine the angular distribution of resonance radiation emanating from a positive column discharge. With the specification of the oscillator strength, absorption/emission profile, gas density, spatial distribution of radiating atoms, and boundary geometry, the angular distribution of photons arriving at the wall of the discharge is obtained. The ratio of the integral of the angular distribution to that for a diffuse, Lambertian surface is on the order of one-half for the parameter space studied here. When combined with a measurement of the absolute intensity at one angle, this distribution provides a means of determining the radiant emittance of the source when measurement of the actual distribution is problematic. © 1995 American Institute of Physics.