A streak spectrograph with microsecond resolution.
An inexpensive, time-resolved spectrograph with microsecond time resolution has been simply constructed in the laboratory. A Gaertner glass-prism monochromator with a flat focal plane was combined with a Beckman-Whitley drum camera with the lens removed. The resulting combination has a geometric aperture of f/10 with a wavelength resolution of 1 A at 4300 A. The wavelength range of 3900 A to 9000 A can be covered with three settings of the wavelength drum on the monochromator. Examples of the spectral time history of reflected shocks in nitrogen and in oxygen for the conventional shock tube are given. This instrument has been particularly useful in recording Stark-broadened hydrogen lines and oxygen lines to measure the ion density in shock-heated gas samples. A continuum brightness of 4.3 x 10(7) ergs sec(-1) cm(-2) sr(-1) (10 A)(-1) at 4300 A is required to produce a plate density f 0.3 on I-F film for optimum entrance slit width and 2.5-microsec exposure time.
Buttrey
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Lockheed Research Laboratory, 3251Hanover Street, Palo Alto, California 94304, USA.