Physical Review A
mJ Mixing in Oriented 4P322 Potassium Atoms Induced by Collisions with Inert Gases
W. Berdowski, T. Shiner, L. Krause
Abstract
The cross sections for the decay of circular and of linear polarization in oriented $4^{2}P_{\frac{3}{2}}$ potassium atoms, induced in collision with inert-gas atoms, were determined in a series of fluorescence experiments. A modified Zeeman scanning method was used to populate selectively the ${m}_{J}$ sublevels of the $^{2}P_{\frac{3}{2}}$ potassium atoms mixed with inert gases and placed in a strong magnetic field. Measurements of depolarization of the fluorescence, in relation to gas pressures, yielded the following depolarization cross sections: ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{1}$ (disorientation): K-He, 86 ${\mathrm{\AA{}}}^{2}$; K-Ne, 86 ${\mathrm{\AA{}}}^{2}$; K-Ar, 164 ${\mathrm{\AA{}}}^{2}$; K-Kr, 248 ${\mathrm{\AA{}}}^{2}$; K-Xe, 251 \AA{}. ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{2}$ (disalignment): K-He, 127 \AA{}; K-Ne, 120 ${\mathrm{\AA{}}}^{2}$; K-Ar, 240 ${\mathrm{\AA{}}}^{2}$, K-Kr, 301 ${\mathrm{\AA{}}}^{2}$, K-Xe, 336 ${\mathrm{\AA{}}}^{2}$. The experimental values are in satisfactory agreement with the calculations of Nikitin and Ovchinnikova.