Abstract

An extensive review is given of various effects that might distort decay curves of long-lived atomic and molecular states in measurements using a static gas target. Special emphasis is given to effects due to the escape out of the viewing region due to thermal motion and, in the case of ions, due to electrostatic repulsion. Theoretical models and experimental measurements are presented which indicate that, for a known geometry, an experimental decay curve can be corrected for the thermal losses so that lifetimes even as long as 1 ms can be deduced if copious excitation is achieved. Studies of the electrostatic repulsion losses show that this effect is strongly dependent upon the density of secondary electrons present and it can easily be eliminated by a supply of additional low-energy electrons. Thus this work shows that it is feasible to utilize the great advantages of static gas multichannel techniques and perform reliable high-resolution recording of lifetimes even in the > 1 μs range.

© 1977 Optical Society of America

Direct measurements of excited-state lifetimes in Mg, Ca, and Sr†

M. D. Havey, L. C. Balling, and J. J. Wright
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 67(4) 488-491 (1977)

Measurement of the lowest S-state lifetime of Al, Ga, In, and Tl†

M. D. Havey, L. C. Balling, and J. J. Wright
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Radiative-lifetime measurements of the 4p⁵P, 4p³P, and 4d⁵D^∘ multiplets of O i

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Lifetime measurements for excited states of rare-earth atoms using pulse modulation of a cw dye-laser beam

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Electron impact excitation of the G¹∑g+ state of H₂†

Richard J. Anderson, J. Watson, and Francis A. Sharpton
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