RbXe bands are observed using pulsed dye laser excitation of atomic alkali transitions in Rb/Xe mixtures containing 193 and 465 Torr xenon. Bands observed in absorption (A) or emission (E) at 427.0 nm (E), 497.8 nm (A), 501.8 nm (A, E), 509.0 nm (A, E), 520.0 nm (A, E) and 535.0 nm (E) are assigned to molecular potentials associated with the 6 2 P 1/2 atomic rubidium states for the first, 6 2 S 1/2 for the next two and 4 2 D 3/2,5/2 for the remaining three. The time evolution of the emission bands depends on the population mechanism of the parent atomic state which involves superradiant transitions from the pumped excited state. Monitoring of the corresponding infrared emission allows a control over the population mechanisms and an evaluation of the lifetimes, collisional quenching and reaction rates of the excimer and parent states. This in turn allows a determination of the atomic parent states of the bands observed.
We describe a series of measurements of absorption and laser induced fluorescence on cells that contained cesium and rubidium and a rare gas: He, Ar, Kr, or Xe. These studies showed strong blue wing absorption to the short wavelength side of the alkali atom D2 lines due to collisionally formed Cs- or Rb-rare gas excimers. We also have observed an efficient two photon excitation of higher lying states in Cs and Rb that produces both intense blue emission and IR atomic emission in the 1.3 to 3.8 μm spectral region.
The kinetics of formation and decay of Cs-Xe molecules in their $\ensuremath{\Sigma}$ and $\ensuremath{\Pi}$ bound states produced in Cs-Xe mixtures irradiated with a short-pulse dye laser tuned around the $7P\ensuremath{-}6S \mathrm{Cs}$ resonance transition has been investigated by fluorescence decay measurements. The time-resolved spectra of the 4600- and 5720-\AA{} molecular fluorescent bands were studied in relation to xenon density, which ranged from 0.9 to 6.9 amagats. Quantitative collisional cross sections are derived from the measured transition rates with peak values around ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}17}$
cm2.
The population and deactivation processes of the first excited 2S and 2D levels of alkali atoms have not been the focus of extensive attention to date, since these levels do not have dipole transitions to the 2S ground state, and the only radiative transitions to the 2p resonance level lie in the IR ( 1-3 fLm). We have demonstrated that in the case of potassium it is possible to populate the 32D and 52S levels in socalled optical collisions by laser excitation of the vapor and also by excitation energy transfer (EET) from the laser-excited Kidimers. 1 The lines of the corresponding 4D--->5P (1.529/1.475 f.lm and 6S ---> 5P (1.367/1.324 f.lm) transitions have also been identified in the laser-induced fluorescence of rubidium vapor,2 although the population mechanism of the levels is not examined in the present study. This st~dy will focus on determining the processes that result in the population of the Rb 42D and 62S levels and to determining the rate constants of these1'rocesses. The spectrum of the LGN-402 argon laser-induced fluorescence of Rb vapors was recorded in the IR by cooled Ge photo diodes selected for IR sensitivity and configured along the outlet slit of an MDR-3 monochromator. The synchronous detection method was employed. A FEU-79 photomultiplier was used in the visible range. Details on the experimental setup can be found in Ref. 3. The Rb vapor was excited by various argon laser lines (514.5-476.5 nm), although the 5l4.5-nm line was of primary interest. The C 1 ITu state of the RB2 dimer is not populated by this laser line; its predissociation efficiently populates the 52P resonance levels4 (see Fig. 1). Moreover the 5l4.5-nm laser line is closer in energy to the Rb 5S--->4D quadrupole transition (M= 75 cm-I). In the experiment at an atomic concentration [Rb] _1016 cm-3 the fluorescence lines from the 62S level (2.5 eV) were weaker by a factor of 50 compared to the lines from the 42D level (2.4 eV). A transition to the shorterwavelength laser excitation lines causes a certain increase in the population efficiency of the 4D level, although it also results in a more rapid growth of the population of the 5P resonance level due to the predissociation of Rb2 (C 1IT u ). I. In pure Rb vapors I) the line intensity of the 4D---> 5P transition has a linear relation to the laser excitation power ,(514.5 nm andp 5X 1016 cm-3 can be attributed to the onset of collisional quenching of the RB 4D state ('Trad =90 nsec). 5 So-called opticaJ.collisions lead to the population of the 4D level in these conditions (Aexc = 514.5 nm and no Na impurities)
Abstract : The Doppler-broadened two-photon absorption (TPA) cross-section for the 52S1/2- 52D5/2 transition in Rb is measured using direct absorption methods. A detailed model of the intensity profile was developed to account for a focused Gaussian beam propagating through a two-photon absorption medium. A peak absorbance of 24% was observed for an intensity of 6.28 kW/cm2 at the focus, a Rb density of 4.6 x 1015 cm-3 concentrations from 1.61-8.52 x 10(15) cm-3 line. Extracting the hyperfine-broadened TPA cross-section from 87 test configurations, while varying the pump power, alkali concentration and focal length, yielded an error weighted average of 6.75x10-21 cm4/W. This cross-section is sufficient for a pulsed dye laser to bleach the pump transition in the Two-Photon Pumped Alkali Laser (TPAL) that lases at 420 nm and 5.2 mum. Additionally, optically pumped atomic rubidium lasers pumped in the blue satellite of the D2 line from the ground Rb-Ar or Rb-Kr collision pair to the dissociative B2 sum 1/2 produce laser emission at 780.2 nm. Lasing is achieved for the Rb-Ar system and 757.1 - 760.4 nm for the Rb-Kr system. Slope efficiencies exceed 0.25% using a heat pipe configuration. The gain is very high with photon build-up times of 1-3.7 ns.
Cross sections for $7^{2}D_{\frac{3}{2}}\ensuremath{\leftrightarrow}7^{2}D_{\frac{5}{2}}$ transfer in Rb, induced in collisions with He, Ne, Ar, and with ground-state Rb atoms, have been determined using methods of atomic fluorescence. Rb vapor, pure or mixed with a noble gas, was irradiated in a glass fluorescence cell with pulses of 660-nm radiation from a
N2-laser-pumped dye laser, populating one of the
2D states by two-photon absorption. The resulting fluorescence included a direct component emitted in the decay of the optically excited state and a sensitized component arising from the collisionally populated state. Relative intensities of the components yielded the cross sections for
72D mixing: $Q(^{2}D_{\frac{3}{2}}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}^{2}D_{\frac{5}{2}})=8.8,6.5,10.4, \mathrm{and} 30$; $Q(^{2}D_{\frac{3}{2}}\ensuremath{\leftarrow}^{2}D_{\frac{5}{2}})=5.8,4.0,6.9, \mathrm{and} 18$, in units of ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}14}$
cm2 for He, Ne, Ar, and Rb, respectively. Cross sections for the effective quenching of the
2D states were also determined.