Patent ID: 11946871
Assignee: PURDUE RESEARCH FOUNDATION
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 12:
13. A system for performing a measurement of a temperature of a gas, the system comprising:
means for generating a main nanosecond discharge pulse within a location in a totally gaseous sample of the gas that causes primary breakdown of the gas to form a plasma discharge and excite a first instance of a light emission signal;
means for generating a probing nanosecond plasma pulse within the location in the plasma discharge in the totally gaseous sample of the gas to initiate additional breakdown of the gas during decay of the plasma discharge after the first instance of the light emission signal disappears, wherein the probing nanosecond plasma pulse creates a lower maximum voltage in the plasma discharge than the main nanosecond discharge pulse, and wherein parameters of the probing nanosecond plasma pulse are such that heating of the plasma discharge by the probing nanosecond plasma pulse is negligible;
an optical emission spectrometer that receives a second instance of the light emission signal excited by the probing nanosecond plasma pulse within 5 ns of initiating the probing nanosecond plasma pulse; and
means for determining the temperature of the gas from the second instance of the light emission signal.