Precision lifetime measurements of He- in a cryogenic electrostatic ion-beam trap

• We have developed a small purely electrostatic ion-beam trap which may be operated in thermal equilibrium at precisely controlled temperatures down to 10 K. Thus, we avoid magnetic field induced mixing of quantum states and may effectively eliminate any influence from absorption of photons from black-body radiation. We report the first correction free measurements of the lifetimes of the 1s2s2p 4PoJ state of 4He- and the high precision result 359.0±0.7 μs for the J=5/2 level. The lifetimes for the J=3/2 and J=1/2 levels are determined to be 12.3±0.5 and 7.8±1.0 μs, respectively.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik -- Atom- och molekylfysik och optik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences -- Atom and Molecular Physics and Optics (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Atomic and molecular physics

Atom- och molekylfysik

fysik

Physics

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)