Construction and operation of a DC glow discharge facility for undergraduate plasma physics experiments

Abstract

We report on the construction and operation of a DC glow discharge facility for various plasma-based experiments. An argon discharge was successfully generated and tested for various pressures and voltages. Non-ideal discharge conditions at high voltages and pressures limited the range over which stable discharges were generated. Optical emission spectroscopy revealed excited argon atoms and argon metastables. Vibrational peaks of nitrogen were also observed, indicating a contamination in the vacuum chamber. Langmuir probe measurement was also demonstrated using a home-made probe. Probe currents were found to increase with pressure.