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A Thermal Beam of Metastable Krypton Atoms Produced by Optical Excitation

Y. Ding·S. -M. Hu·K. Bailey·A. M. Davis·R. W. Dunford·Z. -T. Lu·T. P. O'Connor·L. Young
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Abstract

A room-temperature beam of krypton atoms in the metastable 5s[3/2]2 level is demonstrated via an optical excitation method. A Kr-discharge lamp is used to produce VUV photons at 124 nm for the first-step excitation from the ground-level 4p6 1S0 to the 5s[3/2]1 level. An 819 nm Ti:Sapphire laser is used for the second-step excitation from 5s[3/2]1 to 5p[3/2]1, followed by a spontaneous decay to the 5s[3/2]2 metastable level. A metastable atomic beam with an angular flux density of 3 x 10^14 /s/sr is achieved at the total gas flow rate of 0.01 cm^3 STP/s (or 3 x 10^17 atoms/s). The dependences of the flux on the gas flow rate, laser power, and lamp parameters are investigated.

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Y. Ding, S. -M. Hu, K. Bailey, A. M. Davis, R. W. Dunford, Z. -T. Lu, T. P. O'Connor, L. Young. 2006-12-05. A Thermal Beam of Metastable Krypton Atoms Produced by Optical Excitation. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2437193

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