Abstract

The reaction zone of a helium flowing afterglow has been characterized as consisting of nearly thermalized 2³<i>S</i> metastables in a bath of ground-state helium atoms. LIF studies show that collision-induced angular momentum scrambling occurs efficiently among the <i>n</i> = 3 states of helium, even to the extent of including a small amount of intersystem crossing. LOG transients have been characterized for the afterglow reaction zone, and it is proposed that these signals are associated with a pressure pulse generated by laser pumping the helium 2³<i>S</i> metatables.

Spectroscopic Study of the Early Helium Afterglow*

William S. Bickel and C. R. Burnett
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 55(11) 1504-1508 (1965)

Spectroscopic Study of the Early Afterglow in Helium: Visible Bands and Hopfield Continuum*

Don Villarejo, Ronald R. Herm, and Mark G. Inghram
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 56(11) 1574-1584 (1966)

Spectrographic Study of the Afterglow of Mercury*

Edward E. Stepp and Richard A. Anderson
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 55(1) 31-33 (1965)

Helium Continuum Afterglow in the Vacuum Ultraviolet

R. E. Huffman, J. C. Larrabee, Y. Tanaka, and D. Chambers
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 55(1) 101-102 (1965)

Time variation of the concentration of helium metastable atoms in He-Kr⁺ ion laser

Isamu Kato, Akira Iwasaki, Akifumi Yonehara, and Tsukasa Shimizu
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 69(1) 175-177 (1979)