Abstract
The use of multiphoton excitation schemes for the detection of light atoms has been of considerable interest in recent years.1-4 Techniques such as laser-induced fluorescence or ionization from a multiphoton excited resonant state have been employed. The scheme which has been used for the detection of oxygen atoms is given in Fig. 1, which involves a two-photon transition with 225.6-nm laser radiation to the 3p 3P state and observation of fluorescence emission to the 3s 3state at 844.7 nm. Recent experiments have shown the potential importance of collisional removal of the 3s state through excitation transfer to the 5P state and the observation of fluorescence emission to the 5s state at 777.5 nm.5 This study suggests that spin changing collisions of the initially excited level could be a significant collisional removal pathway. To employ two-photon excitation for quantitative measurements it is necessary to understand the mechanism for transfer of the initial excitation energy. We investigated the collisional excitation transfer from the oxygen 3s 3P to 5P states with the stable open-shell oxygen molecule and the closed- shell nitrogen molecule.
© 1989 Optical Society of America
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