Ion-induced atomic and ionic excitation in aluminum and graphite: Effect of the applied magnetic field

The polycrystalline aluminum and graphite targets have been bombarded with 5-10 keV Ar+ ions and effect of magnetic field on ion-induced atomic and ionic emission from these targets have been investigated in the 180-500 nm wavelength range. The application of the weak magnetic field (<10 mT) on the target surface resulted in remarkable increase in the intensity of atomic and ionic emission lines. Standard spectrochemical analysis technique, based on the assumption of local thermodynamic equilibrium in the arc plasma, has been applied to the spectra to determine the effect of magnetic field on electron temperature and density. Magnetic field seems to have no effect on temperatures. However, we observed a consistent increase of electron density with magnetic field that may be due to the confinement of electrons in the interaction volume.