Abstract

The lifetimes of several states in a thallium see-through hollow cathode discharge, or galvatron, are obtained to characterize its potential as an atomic line filter. The lifetimes of the thallium 6²D_3/2, 6²D_5/2, and 7²S_1/2 states are measured by time-resolved single-step laser-excited fluorescence by use of a 276.787 nm laser pulse or a 535.046 nm laser pulse and measuring the resulting fluorescence waveform at the appropriate wavelength. Values of 6.4 ± 0.1, 7.5 ± 1.1, and 7.7 ± 0.2 ns were obtained for the 6²D_3/2, 6²D_5/2, and 7²S_1/2 states, respectively, which agree with values obtained by previous authors, as well as calculated values. No current dependence was observed for each of these states. The lifetime of the long-lived thallium 6²P_3/2° metastable state was measured by two-step laser-excited fluorescence at various applied currents. The metastable level was pumped by a 276.787 nm laser pulse, and a temporally delayed 535.046 nm laser pulse interrogated the population of the metastable state. Relating the fluorescence intensity to the population of the metastable state as a function of delay time yielded a decay curve for the 6²P_3/2° metastable state. Values of 2.1 ± 0.2, 2.8 ± 0.1, 3.1 ± 0.3, 3.8 ± 0.4, and 4.8 ± 0.6 μs were found for applied currents of 14.0, 12.0, 10.0, 8.0, and 6.0 mA, respectively. The resulting lifetimes for the 6²P_3/2° metastable state clearly show a dependence on the applied current and are expected to be due to collisions with the wall of the cathode, as well as a contribution due to collisions with electrons.

g_F Landé factors of the thallium metastable 6s²6p²P_3/2 and first-excited 6s²7s²S_1/2 states determined by a pump-and-probe method of quantum beats in forward scattering

M. Lubińska, A. Wiȩcek, L. Józefowski, J. Koperski, K. Szymaniec, and T. Dohnalik
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 14(12) 3294-3298 (1997)

Direct measurements of excited-state lifetimes in Mg, Ca, and Sr†

M. D. Havey, L. C. Balling, and J. J. Wright
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 67(4) 488-491 (1977)

Measurement of the lowest S-state lifetime of Al, Ga, In, and Tl†

M. D. Havey, L. C. Balling, and J. J. Wright
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 67(4) 491-493 (1977)

Laser cooling of trapped Ca⁺ and measurement of the 3 ²D_5/2 state lifetime

Shinji Urabe, Masayoshi Watanabe, Hidetsuka Imajo, and Kazuhiro Hayasaka
Opt. Lett. 17(16) 1140-1142 (1992)

Measurement of the lifetimes of the z²F_5/2, z²D_3/2, z⁴G_5/2, and y²D_3/2 states of lanthanum*

B. R. Bulos, A. J. Glassman, R. Gupta, and G. W. Moe
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 68(6) 842-845 (1978)