Some Recent Developments in Atomic Lifetime Determinations

Abstract

A lifetimes technique that is readily applicable to neutral and singly ionised atoms of a wide range of elements, including the highly refractory elements, is reviewed. With this technique an atomic vapour of the element under study is generated by cathodic sputtering in a low pressure rare-gas discharge and fluorescence decay signals emitted by the vapour following pulsed laser excitation are recorded directly in a fast transient digitiser. Theoretical expressions are presented for the form of the time-resolved fluor~scence signal appropriate to the collisional environment of a rare-gas sputtering discharge. A summary is given of the atomic systems studied to date using this technique, and some new results for Sm and Ba are compared with recently reported results for these elements.