Determination of Radiative Lifetimes In the 3snp(1)p(1) Sequence of Mg-i Using Time-resolved Vuv Laser Spectroscopy

In English The radiative lifetimes of the states in the (n=5-8) 3snp P-1(1) sequence of neutral magnesium were investigated using time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence. Excitation from the 3s2 S-1(0), ground state was performed using VUV radiation, which was produced by resonant sum-difference frequency mixing in a krypton gas cell. We find tau(n=5): 54(3) ns, tau(n=6): 140(10) ns, tau(n=7): 290(20) ns, tau(n=8): 475(40) ns. These results were found to be in fair agreement with a Multi Configuration Hartree-Fock (MCHF) calculation.