Multiphoton-excited fluorescence measurements of atomic hydrogen in low-pressure flames

Comparison of nanosecond and picosecond excitation for interference-free two-photon laser-induced fluorescence detection of atomic hydrogen in flames

Two-photon laser-induced fluorescence (TP-LIF) line imaging of atomic hydrogen was investigated in a series of premixed CH4/O2/N2, H2/O2, and H2/O2/N2 flames using excitation with either picosecond or nanosecond pulsed lasers operating at 205 nm. Radial TP-LIF profiles were measured for a range of pulse fluences to determine the maximum interference-free signal levels and the corresponding picosecond and nanosecond laser fluences in each of 12 flames. For an interference-free measurement, the shape of the TP-LIF profile is independent of laser fluence. For larger fluences, distortions in the profile are attributed to photodissociation of H2O, CH3, and/or other combustion intermediates, and stimulated emission. In comparison with the nanosecond laser, excitation with the picosecond laser can effectively reduce the photolytic interference and produces approximately an order of magnitude larger interference-free signal in CH4/O2/N2 flames with equivalence ratios in the range of 0.5< or =Phi< or =1.4, and in H2/O2 flames with 0.3< or =Phi< or =1.2. Although photolytic interference limits the nanosecond laser fluence in all flames, stimulated emission, occurring between the laser-excited level, H(n=3), and H(n=2), is the limiting factor for picosecond excitation in the flames with the highest H atom concentration. Nanosecond excitation is advantageous in the richest (Phi=1.64) CH4/O2/N2 flame and in H2/O2/N2 flames. The optimal excitation pulse width for interference-free H atom detection depends on the relative concentrations of hydrogen atoms and photolytic precursors, the flame temperature, and the laser path length within the flame.

Two-photon laser-induced fluorescence of atomic hydrogen in a diamond-depositing dc arcjet

Atomic hydrogen in the plume of a dc-arcjet plasma is monitored by use of two-photon excited laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) during the deposition of diamond film. The effluent of a dc-arc discharge in hydrogen and argon forms a luminous plume as it flows through a converging-diverging nozzle into a reactor. When a trace of methane (< 2%) is added to the flow in the diverging part of the nozzle, diamond thin film grows on a water-cooled molybdenum substrate from the reactive mixture. LIF of atomic hydrogen in the arcjet plume is excited to the 3S and 3D levels with two photons near 205 nm, and the subsequent fluorescence is observed at Balmer-alpha near 656 nm. Spatially resolved LIF measurements of atomic hydrogen are made as a function of the ratio of hydrogen to argon feedstock gas, methane addition, and reactor pressure. At lower reactor pressures, time-resolved LIF measurements are used to verify our collisional quenching correction algorithm. The quenching rate coefficients for collisions with the major species in the arcjet (Ar, H, and H2) do not change with gas temperature variations in the plume (T < 2300 K). Corrections of the LIF intensity measurements for the spatial variation of collisional quenching are important to determine relative distributions of the atomic hydrogen concentration. The relative atomic hydrogen concentrations measured here are calibrated with an earlier calorimetric determination of the feedstock hydrogen dissociation to provide quantitative hydrogen-atom concentration distributions.