Experimental Study on Improvement of Discharge Bulb Aging of Hydrogen Maser

Abstract

The preparation of atomic hydrogen has a significant effect on the operation of the hydrogen maser. The paper presents radio frequency (RF) discharge source and discharge bulb as the necessary conditions for the preparation of atomic hydrogen. Based on the current technical status of the RF discharge source and the main reaction of the plasma inside the discharge bulb, a new improved technique for the discharge bulb aging consisting in a series of experiments of different proportions of HF solution, acid etching time, and inner wall purification. The new method described here fulfils the time, that the discharge bulb from the first light reached a normal rose red and the photoelectric diode light detection voltage reached equilibrium value, cut from more than one week to less than two days, the spectral intensity reached 16,500 after two days while the traditional technology reaches 14,000 after one week, and the aging success rate of this batch reached 100 %.