Ionization chamber investigation of vacuum ultraviolet radiation emitted from a plasma focus

Double ionization chambers were used in a study of 10–70 eV radiation emitted from a plasma focus in an erosion-type magnetoplasma compressor. The maxima corresponded to the recombination of electrons terminating at the ground state of singly, doubly, triply, and multiply charged ions. The plasma focus emitted 45% of its total energy in the 12–70 eV range and could therefore be used as an efficient source of far ultraviolet radiation in establishing a population inversion in a medium by photoionization of the inner-shell electrons.