Collisional and radiative processes in high-pressure Ne/N₂ discharges

Optical emission spectroscopy was used to investigate collisional and radiative processes in a high-pressure cylindrical dielectric barrier discharge excited by radio frequency power at 13.56 MHz in gas mixtures containing Ne and N₂. Emissions attributable to N₂, and N were analysed in three regions ranging from 70-120 nm, 120-180 nm, and 330-365 nm. The dependence of the intensities of the various emission features from the discharge plasma on the plasma operating parameters (pressure, power, gas mixture) are explained in terms of the energy transfer channels from Ne metastables and excimers to N₂. We compare the observations from the Ne/N₂ plasmas to those obtained earlier for Ar/N₂ plasmas.