Temporal evolution of plasma from a highly ionized helium capillary discharge

The generation of a highly ionized helium capillary plasma and the study of its temporal evolution are discussed. A 30-cm-long and 1-mm-diameter helium plasma was created with well-terminated kiloamp current pulses of 90-ns full width at half-maximum (FWHM). Emission spectroscopy was used to study the recombination of totally stripped ions into hydrogenic helium ions and to measure the evolution of the plasma density from the Stark broadening of HeII transitions. A 1.2-kA discharge current pulse was observed to create a plasma density of 8 x 10 to the 16th/cu cm in 1 torr of helium. The maximum intensity of HeII transitions occurs in the afterglow of the discharge pulse, following the collisional recombination of totally stripped ions with plasma electrons when the plasma cools. The study is of interest in relation to the possibility of obtaining amplification in the 164.0-nm line of HeII in a capillary discharge.