Excimer emission from high pressure microhollow cathode discharges in xenon

Summary form only given. By reducing the diameter of the the cathode opening in hollow cathode discharge geometry to values on the order of 100 micrometers we were able to operate the discharges in argon and xenon in a direct current mode at atmospheric pressure. The micro-discharges have been shown to emit excimer radiation peaking at wavelengths of 130 nm and 170 nm, respectively. We have in this study particularly concentrated on the xenon VUV radiation. The emission from a 100 micrometers microhollow cathode discharge in xenon at pressures between 40 and 760 Torr was measured over the spectral range from 130 nm to 400 nm. At 40 Torr, the 147 nm xenon resonance line dominates the emission spectra. There are some indications of the first continuum which extends from the resonance line towards longer wavelength. The second excimer continuum peaking at 170 nm appears at higher pressures. At pressures greater than 300 Torr, it dominates the emission spectra up to the longest recorded wavelength of 400 nm. In order to determine the absolute values of the excimer radiation the emission was compared to that of calibrated UV sources: a Hg lamp (line emission at 185 nm) and a Deuterium lamp.