Beam-laser lifetime measurements for low-lying levels in CrII

Abstract

Lifetimes have been measured for 14 levels belonging to the z4P0, z4D0, z6P0, z6D0, and z6F0 terms of CrII using laser-induced fluorescence of a fast beam. The results are compared with earlier LIF and beam-foil measurements and with the calculations of Kurucz. An analysis of solar photospheric spectra, using the Kurucz branching-ratios renormalized by the new lifetime results, yields a solar photospheric abundance of chromium equal to ACr = 5.74 ± 0.06 on the usual logarithmic scale.