Time-resolved laser spectroscopy on high-lying states in neutral oxygen

Abstract

Radiative lifetimes have been measured for five triplet states of atomic oxygen. The oxygen atoms were generated by photodissociation of ${\mathrm{NO}}_2$ and the investigated states were populated through a two-step process involving a two-photon excitation to the lowest excited triplet state of even parity, 2${\mathrm{p}}^3$3p ${\mathrm{}}^3$P, followed by a one-photon excitation to the investigated state. A similar scheme is applicable to the study of excited states in many light atoms.