Radiative efficiencies of radio frequency sulfur discharges

The radiative efficiencies of RF sulfur discharges under various conditions of power loading, sulfur vapor pressure, and argon buffer pressure have been determined. The highest CW efficiency was 11 percent for a sulfur density of
6.3 \times 10^{16}
cm
^-3
and 20 torr argon buffer. The results of pulsed operation show that the efficiency increases slightly to 13 percent for a sulfur density of
8.8 \times 10^{16}
cm
^-3
.