Transition rate diagrams — A new approach to the study of selective excitation processes: The spectrum of manganese in a Grimm-type glow discharge

Transition rates and transition rate diagrams in atomic emission spectroscopy: A review

“…This phenomenon may be responsible for the behavior observed e.g. in the TR diagram of Mn II in a glow discharge in neon [1]. See also Section 3.1.1. below.…”

“…The concept of TR diagrams [1][2][3] can be described as follows: The true relative intensity I ij of an emission line a associated with a radiative transition i → j between an upper level i and a lower level j of an atom or ion can be expressed as…”

“…In Fig. 1 is a TR diagram describing emission spectrum of manganese ions in an argon glow discharge [1]. The strongest multiplets observed in the Mn II spectrum are depicted by horizontal arrows connecting the upper term and the lower term of the corresponding transitions.…”

“…In a more realistic model in which the atom has not just two but a number of excited levels, formula (9) will hold for any pair of levels which can be denoted as (i), (k) instead of (0), (1). Such atom will emit a line spectrum with lines at wavelengths λ ik = hc/(E i − E k ) and intensities I ik = n i * A ik hc/λ ik .…”

“…Interpretation of emission spectra in terms of the excitation processes involved and the plasma parameters controlling them is a complex task. The introduction of transition rate diagrams (TR diagrams) by Z. Weiss and co-workers in the past 2 years [1][2][3] was an attempt to create a tool that would provide a better insight into the excitation of different elements in a glow discharge, based on their emission spectra. This review is an introduction to TR diagrams and a summary of what has been done so far on this topic.…”