Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Journal of Physics B Atomic and Molecular Physics

Transient phenomena of aligned mercury atoms in the 63P2state

E Jacobson

Published Apr 21, 1975• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Nutational motion of aligned mercury atoms in the metastable 6 3 P 2 state has been observed by use of a RF pulse technique. The comparison with theoretical calculations gave good agreement.
DOI
10.1088/0022-3700/8/6/013

Related papers

Simultaneous measurements of the longitudinal and transverse relaxation times of aligned mercury atoms in the metastable 63P2state

E Jacobson

Mercury atoms are excited in a weak gas discharge to the metastable 63P2 state, forming a longitudinal alignment, which is observed in the absorption of the linearly polarised green Hg line ( lambda =5461 AA). By a pulsed RF field, transverse components of the alignment are produced additionally, giving rise to modulated absorption. During the free precession the signals decay due to depolarising collisions with mercury atoms in the ground state. The cross sections for the destruction of the alignment have been determined to be sigma 0=(262.9+or-5.2) AA2 for the longitudinal component, sigma 1=(257.8+or-7.5) AA2 for the first transverse component (modulated with the Larmor frequency) and sigma 2=(273.1+or-9.0) AA2 for the second transverse component (modulated with twice the Larmor frequency). It is emphasised that these values refer to the alignment.

Journal of Physics B Atomic and Molecular Physics•Dec 1, 1977•3 citations

Scattering of metastable mercury atoms

T. A. Davidson, Malcolm A. D. Fluendy, K. P. Lawley

Differential elastic cross sections for the scattering of the metastable 63P2 state of mercury from sodium, potassium and rubidium have been measured at thermal energies. Interference structure is resolved in all cases, suggesting that the atoms interact by a single effective potential in the attractive region probed at these energies. No attenuation of the interference structure is observed so that quenching of the metastable state is not an important process along trajectories sampling only the attractive part of the potential.

Faraday Discussions of the Chemical Society•Jan 1, 1973•8 citations

Time behavior of the 7[sup 3]S[sub 1]−6[sup 3]P[sub 2] transition following pulsed laser excitation of the 6[sup 3]P[sub 1] state of mercury

Kiril B. Blagoev, Dieter Gruber, Alexander A. Dreischuh +3 more

AIP conference proceedings•Jan 1, 1997•0 citations

Aligned atoms in strong oscillating RF fields. I. The unmodulated resonance signals

E Jacobson

In radio frequency (RF) experiments on aligned atoms (e.g. optical double resonance) new phenomena can be found in the case of longitudinal excitation if a strong oscillating RF field is used: both the positions of the RF resonances (RF shift) and the widths (power broadening) depend on the direction of the light observed and on the state of its (linear) polarisation. This applies to the main (single-quantum) transitions as well as the (odd) multi-quanta transitions. These effects have been observed in an experiment on aligned mercury atoms in the metastable 6 3 P 2 state and have been confirmed by numerical calculations based on the semiclassical approach.

Journal of Physics B Atomic and Molecular Physics•Sep 28, 1980•2 citations

Excitation and deexcitation of metastable mercury atoms at the 63P0 level

A. I. Korotkov, V. I. Danil'chuk

Russian Physics Journal•Dec 1, 1968•0 citations

On Life and Concentration of Metastable Atoms and the Quenching of Mercury Resonance Radiation

Enrique Gaviola

A complete and general study of the dependence of life and concentration of metastable mercury atoms, optically excited, on experimental conditions, on foreign gas-pressures, and on intensity of illumination is given. This study explains why the life can not be larger than ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}2}$ second under laboratory conditions and why foreign gases act so differently in regard to the accumulation of excited atoms. The theoretical results are in good agreement with all experimental data available. An improved and more general formula for the quenching of mercury resonance radiation is obtained. The efficiencies of collisions of the second kind of metastable mercury atoms with ${\mathrm{N}}_{2}$, A, and He molecules are calculated numerically. It is shown that the concentration of metastable atoms increases only with the square root of the intensity of the exciting light and not with the exciting light itself as generally assumed.

Physical Review•Nov 15, 1929•12 citations
Mercury atoms are excited in a weak gas discharge to the metastable 63P2 state, forming a longitudinal alignment, which is observed in the absorption of the linearly polarised green Hg line ( lambda =5461 AA). By a pulsed RF field, transverse components of the alignment are produced additionally, giving rise to modulated absorption. During the free precession the signals decay due to depolarising collisions with mercury atoms in the ground state. The cross sections for the destruction of the alignment have been determined to be sigma 0=(262.9+or-5.2) AA2 for the longitudinal component, sigma 1=(257.8+or-7.5) AA2 for the first transverse component (modulated with the Larmor frequency) and sigma 2=(273.1+or-9.0) AA2 for the second transverse component (modulated with twice the Larmor frequency). It is emphasised that these values refer to the alignment.
Differential elastic cross sections for the scattering of the metastable 63P2 state of mercury from sodium, potassium and rubidium have been measured at thermal energies. Interference structure is resolved in all cases, suggesting that the atoms interact by a single effective potential in the attractive region probed at these energies. No attenuation of the interference structure is observed so that quenching of the metastable state is not an important process along trajectories sampling only the attractive part of the potential.
In radio frequency (RF) experiments on aligned atoms (e.g. optical double resonance) new phenomena can be found in the case of longitudinal excitation if a strong oscillating RF field is used: both the positions of the RF resonances (RF shift) and the widths (power broadening) depend on the direction of the light observed and on the state of its (linear) polarisation. This applies to the main (single-quantum) transitions as well as the (odd) multi-quanta transitions. These effects have been observed in an experiment on aligned mercury atoms in the metastable 6 3 P 2 state and have been confirmed by numerical calculations based on the semiclassical approach.
A complete and general study of the dependence of life and concentration of metastable mercury atoms, optically excited, on experimental conditions, on foreign gas-pressures, and on intensity of illumination is given. This study explains why the life can not be larger than ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}2}$ second under laboratory conditions and why foreign gases act so differently in regard to the accumulation of excited atoms. The theoretical results are in good agreement with all experimental data available. An improved and more general formula for the quenching of mercury resonance radiation is obtained. The efficiencies of collisions of the second kind of metastable mercury atoms with N2{\mathrm{N}}_{2}N2​, A, and He molecules are calculated numerically. It is shown that the concentration of metastable atoms increases only with the square root of the intensity of the exciting light and not with the exciting light itself as generally assumed.