APS » PROLA » Phys. Rev. Lett. » Volume 71 » Issue 14

Phys. Rev. Lett. 71, 2196 - 2199 (1993)

Radiative lifetime of the long-lived 1s2s 3S1 state in heliumlike neon by electron-beam excitation of trapped ions

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B. J. Wargelin, P. Beiersdorfer, and S. M. Kahn
Department of Physics and Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, University of California, P.O. Box 808, Livermore, California 94550

Received 19 October 1992

We report a technique for measuring the lifetimes of long-lived excited levels in highly charged ions that fall into the range from 10-2 to 10-7 sec, inaccessible to existing methods. Employing a fast-switching electron beam to produce and excite electrostatically trapped ions, lifetimes are determined by observing the fluorescent decay of metastable levels. A value of 90.5±1.5 μsec is obtained for the 1s2s 3S1→1s2 1S0 transition in heliumlike neon, in good agreement with theoretical predictions of 91.1 and 92.0 μsec.


©1993 The American Physical Society

URL: http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v71/p2196
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.71.2196
PACS: 32.70.Fw, 35.80.+s, 34.50.Fa, 34.80.Kw

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