The Lifetimes of the 72P1/2 and 72P3/2 States of Cesium

Abstract

The lifetimes of the 72P3/2 and 72P1/2 states of atomic cesium have been determined using delayed coincidence techniques. A nitrogen laser pumped tunable dye laser was used to excite the cesium vapor and direct measurements of the fluorescence decay yielded the following lifetimes: τ3/2(72P3/2) = 136 ± 4 ns and τ1/2(72P1/2) = 158 ± 5 ns. These values are in good agreement with recent measurements and calculations.