ISSN:
1089-7690
Source:
AIP Digital Archive
Topics:
Physics
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
Notes:
Two different techniques were applied to measure the lifetime of the lowest rotational levels in the metastable a 3Π1(v=0) state of CO. First, measurement of the absolute absorption cross-section for several absorption lines of the a(v=0)←X(v=0) transition yields an Einstein coefficient of A0,0=97±3 s−1. In combination with the experimentally determined branching ratios for the a→X transition, the lifetime of each component of the a 3Π1(v=0,J=1) Λ-doublet is determined to be 3.67±0.20 ms. Second, detection of the spin-forbidden fluorescence at two positions in the molecular beam downstream from the excitation region, as a function of velocity of the molecules directly probes the exponential decay. With this technique the lifetime of the lower component of the same a 3Π1(v=0,J=1) Λ-doublet is determined to be 3.4±0.4 ms, while for the upper component a value of 3.8±0.5 ms is found. © 1997 American Institute of Physics.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.474946
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