Lifetime measurement of argon III levels

Lifetime measurement of argon III levels

Volume29A, number4 PHYSICS LETTERS LIFETIME MEASUI~EMENT OF 5May1969 AI~GON III LEVELS A. DENIS and M. DUFAY Laboratoire de Physique de l'Atmo...

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Volume29A, number4

PHYSICS LETTERS

LIFETIME

MEASUI~EMENT

OF

5May1969

AI~GON III

LEVELS

A. DENIS and M. DUFAY Laboratoire de Physique de l'Atmosph~re, Facult$ des Sciences de Lyon, France ($quipe de recherche associ$e au C. N. R. S.) Received 2 April 1969 The lifetime of some argon III levels has been measured using the 'beam foil technique'.

s$ sp

A b e a m of a r g o n i o n s w i t h 1.3 MeV e n e r g y , p a s s i n g t h ro u g h a thin c a r b o n foil (10 gg/cm~2), i s i o n i z e d and e x c i t e d . T h e i n t e n s i t y of a t r a n s i tion a f t e r the t a r g e t d e c r e a s e s e x p o n e n ti a l ly with the d i s t a n c e x as

sF

1= a exp(..x/vT) + ~ b n e x p ( - x / v ' f n) n

/"

t

w h e r e ~ is the l i f e t i m e of the u p p e r l e v e l and v the s p e e d of the ions. T h e second t e r m stands f o r the c a s c a d e s on the u p p e r l e v e l . T h e r a d i a t i v e de c a y of the t r a n s i t i o n s i s m e a s u r e d by m e a n s of a m o n o c h r o m a t o r with a p h o t o m u l t i p l i e r . We h a v e p r e v i o u s l y studied with this method the e x c i t e d l e v e l s in an i o n iz e d neon b e a m [ 1]. Most of the m u l t i p l e t s c l a s s i f i e d by C. M o o r e [2] a r e observoed, but the u n c l a s s i f i e d m u l t i p l e t 3509-3511 A i s c a l c u l a t e d f r o m e n e r g y l e v e l s given by C. M o o r e [3]. F u r t h e r m o r e , the v a r i a t i o n s with e n e r g y of the i n t e n s i t i e s of two unknown t r a n s i t i o n s (3639 and 4173 A) i n d i c a t e that they a r e due to A IH. T a b l e 1 g i v e s the l i f e t i m e of the u p p e r l e v e l s of the o b s e r v e d t r a n s i t i o n s . T h e a c c u r a c y of the m e a s u r e m e n t s i s about 10%. T h e e n e r g y l o s s , c a l c u l a t e d a f t e r the data of F a s t r u p et al. [4]

4

)S rl

4 Fig. 1. Partial term diagram for the measured transitions in A III. a m o u n t s to 70 keV. Th e m e a s u r e d l i f e t i m e s in neon HI [1] a r e a p p r o x i m a t e l y t w i c e as long as in ar g o n HI f o r t r a n s i t i o n s between h o m o l o g o u s s t a t e s in the two s p e c i e s . Such a b e h a v i o u r has to be r e l a t e d to p r e v i o u s r e g u l a r i t i e s pointed out by W i e s e and W e i s s [5]. 1. A. Denis, Compt. Rend. 268 (1969) 383, and to be published. 2. C. Moore, A multiplet table of astrophysical interest. N.B.S. (1945). 3. C. Moore, Atomic energy levels, N.B.S. (1958). 4. B. Fastrup, P. Hvelplund and C. A. Sautter, Mat. Fys. Medd. Dan. Vid. Selsk. 35, no. l0 (1966). 5. W.L.Wiese and A.W.Weiss, Phys.Rev. 175 (1968) 50. Table 1

Wavelength (~)

170

Transition

N° multiplet ref. 2

Upper level

Lifetime (ns)

3285

4s 5 S ° - 4 p 5p

1

4p 5p

2.4

3336

4s ~3D°- 4p' 3F

3

4p, 3F

2.5

3481

4s' 3D°- 4p' 3D

2

4pt 3D

2.6

3509-11

4s 3 S ° - 4 p 3p

-

4p 3p

2.4

3639

unidentified

-

4173

unidentified

3.2 3.0