Electrophysical and optophysical properties of air ionized by a short pulse of fast electrons

A method of solving the nonsteady kinetic equation of deceleration of electrons is developed in the basis of the application of the multigroup approximation. The electron distribution function in air ionized by nonsteady sources of primary electrons is determined, and the process of avalanche formation of secondary electrons in air is investigated. The time dependence of the emission intensity of air is determined, experimentally and by calculation, in two spectral intervals, one of which includes the lambda = 391.4 nm NS N/sub 2//sup +/ (O, O) band while the other includes the lambda = 337.1 nm 2 PS N/sub 2/ (O, O) band, under the action of a short electron beam with an energy E = 100 keV for different values of the gas pressure. The agreement between theoretical results and experimental data indicates the reliability of the method of solving the nonsteady kinetic equation of electron deceleration proposed in the paper.