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Regenerative Soot-V: Spectroscopy of the regenerative sooting discharges

The mechanisms and processes of the formation of the regenerative soot in a graphite hollow cathode discharge that produces and emits carbon clusters are presented. Mass spectrometry with a designed ExB velocity filter analyzes the entire range of the charged clusters from monatomic Carbon C1 to as large clusters as C4300. The state of the carbon vapor within the source is evaluated by using the characteristic line emissions from the carbonaceous discharge whose formative mechanisms depend upon the kinetic and potential sputtering of the sooted cathode. The carbonaceous discharge generates atomic and ionic C and its clusters Cm where m is equal to or greater than 2, noble gas metastable atoms and ions, energetic electrons and photons in the cavity of the graphite hollow cathode. The parameters of soot formation and its recycling depend critically on the discharge parameters, the geometry of the hollow cathode and 3D profile of the cusp magnetic field contours.