Acoustic perturbation of a neon glow discharge

• Main Author: Crandall, Joel Lee, Jr.
• Other Authors: Cooper, Alfred W.
• Language: en_US
• Published: Monterey, California. U.S. Naval Postgraduate School 2012
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10945/11552

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited. === Acoustic waves of finite extent were propagated into a dc glow discharge. It was found that compression phases of these waves reduced light emitted from the discharge, while rarefaction phases increased this light. In the compression phase of the acoustic wave these changes were attributed to increased losses of electron energy through an increase in the collision frequency. Electron energy was increased in the rarefaction phase of the acoustic wave as collision frequency was reduced. Fast and slow waves of stratification were excited by the acoustic waves. These waves of stratification had opposite signs of light intensity variation when excited by compression and rarefaction phases of the acoustic wave.