Excitation of rubidium ions at the thermal collisions with metastable helium atoms

Kiril B. Blagoev, S. V. Kasyanenko, U. Krauze +1 more

Grigory Ya. Korenman, S. N. Yudin

I.A. Kudriavtsev, V. V. Petrunin

David Robert Bates

It is proposed that the helium atoms in the second quantum levels which are produced by the recombination of helium molecular ions arise from collisions between normal helium atoms and excited helium molecules during their passage downward from the high Rydberg levels first entered to the metastable level.

David W. Fahey, W. F. Parks, L. D. Schearer

A thermal beam of helium (2 3 S 1 ) metastable atoms was used to excite coherently the 2 P 3/2 levels of Ca, Sr and Ba in a Penning ionising collision. The coherent excitation of the ions appears as a linear polarisation of the optical emission from the excited ions. The degree of linear polarisation is 5.5, 3.5 and 0.5% for Ca, Sr and Ba, respectively, with the polarisation parallel to the beam direction. Hanle effect signals from the 2 P 3/2 level of Sr were observed and the radioactive decay rate measured.

Michael H. Ornstein