The radiative lifetime of metastable CO ($a^3Π, v=0$)

Joop J. Gilijamse; Steven Hoekstra; Samuel A. Meek; Markus Metsala; Sebastiaan Y. T. van de Meerakker; Gerard Meijer; Gerrit C. Groenenboom

doi:10.1063/1.2813888

arXiv · 0710.2240

The radiative lifetime of metastable CO ($a^3Π, v=0$)

Joop J. Gilijamse·Steven Hoekstra·Samuel A. Meek·Markus Metsala·Sebastiaan Y. T. van de Meerakker·Gerard Meijer·Gerrit C. Groenenboom

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Abstract

We present a combined experimental and theoretical study on the radiative lifetime of CO in the $a^3Π_{1,2}, v=0$ state. CO molecules in a beam are prepared in selected rotational levels of this metastable state, Stark-decelerated and electrostatically trapped. From the phosphorescence decay in the trap, the radiative lifetime is measured to be $2.63\pm0.03$ ms for the $a^3Π_1, v=0, J=1$ level. From spin-orbit coupling between the $a^3Π$ and the $A^1Π$ state a 20% longer radiative lifetime of 3.16 ms is calculated for this level. It is concluded that coupling to other $^1Π$ states contributes to the observed phosphorescence rate of metastable CO.

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Joop J. Gilijamse, Steven Hoekstra, Samuel A. Meek, Markus Metsala, Sebastiaan Y. T. van de Meerakker, Gerard Meijer, Gerrit C. Groenenboom. 2008-01-07. The radiative lifetime of metastable CO ($a^3Π, v=0$). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2813888

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