Design and Construciton of a Photodiode-Based Passive Spectrometer
Abstract
The use of passive spectroscopy to determine electron temperatures is well documented
and has the important benefit of being noninvasive. The use of line intensities in particular is
important because other spectrographic techniques, such as those based on Stark broadening
or Thompson scattering, can be difficult to employ in certain situations. Here, we present a
model for the estimation of electron temperature utilizing the ratio of emitted line intensities
in a plasma. Details of design and construction for a photo diode based spectrometer taking
advantage of this model are also presented, as well as details regarding data acquisition and
analysis using this spectrometer.