We performed a time-resolved spectroscopic study of the VUV/UV scintillation of gaseous argon as a function of pressure and electric field, by means of a wavelength sensitive detector operated with different radioactive sources. Our work conveys new evidence of distinctive features of the argon light which are in contrast with the general assumption that, for particle detection purposes, the scintillation can be considered to be largely monochromatic at 128 nm (second continuum). The wavelength and time-resolved analysis of the photon emission reveal that the dominant component of the argon scintillation during the first tens of ns is in the range [160, 325] nm. This light is consistent with the third continuum emission from highly charged argon ions/molecules. This component of the scintillation is field-independent up to 25 V/cm/bar and shows a very mild dependence with pressure in the range [1, 16] bar. The dynamics of the second continuum emission is dominated by the excimer formation time, whose variation as a function of pressure has been measured. Additionally, the time and pressure-dependent features of electron-ion recombination, in the second continuum band, have been measured. This study opens new paths toward a novel particle identification technique based on the spectral information of the noble-elements scintillation light.

我们通过使用不同放射源操作的波长敏感检测器，对作为压力和电场函数的气态氩的 VUV/UV 闪烁进行了时间分辨光谱研究。我们的工作传达了氩光独特特征的新证据，这与一般假设形成对比，即对于粒子检测目的，闪烁可以被认为在 128 nm（第二连续谱）处主要是单色的。光子发射的波长和时间分辨分析表明，前几十 ns 内氩闪烁的主要成分在 [160, 325] nm 范围内。这种光与来自高电荷氩离子/分子的第三个连续谱发射一致。闪烁的这个分量在高达 25 V/cm/bar 的电压下与场无关，并且对 [1, 16] bar 范围内的压力表现出非常温和的依赖性。第二连续谱发射的动力学由准分子形成时间支配，其变化作为压力的函数已经被测量。此外，还测量了第二连续谱带中电子-离子复合的时间和压力相关特征。这项研究为基于贵元素闪烁光光谱信息的新型粒子识别技术开辟了新途径。已经测量了第二连续谱带中电子-离子复合的时间和压力相关特征。这项研究为基于贵元素闪烁光光谱信息的新型粒子识别技术开辟了新途径。已经测量了第二连续谱带中电子-离子复合的时间和压力相关特征。这项研究为基于贵元素闪烁光光谱信息的新型粒子识别技术开辟了新途径。