A simple and accurate analytical model of the Stark profile and its application to plasma characterization

Optical Emission Spectroscopy techniques are among the most employed to perform the characterization of laboratory plasmas. The analysis of the obtained data is based on the convolution of three different types of profiles: Lorentzians, Gaussians and Starks. While analytic expressions are available for the first two types, the Stark profile has been traditionally obtained through theoretical calculations using different models. In this paper, we propose is a simple and accurate analytical function that can be employed as approximation of a Stark profile. The application of this new model may simplify the analysis of plasmas.