Abstract
The high degree of orientation of atomic angular momentum states obtained by the interaction of fast ions with a solid surface at grazing incidence allows the application of the zero-field quantum-beat technique for high-resolution studies in atomic spectroscopy. With this new technique the authors have measured the hyperfine splitting of N14 ii 2p3pP11 and deduce for the hyperfine constants values of A=102.9±1.0 MHz and B=4.58±0.05 MHz, and for the quadrupole moment Q(N14)=19.3±0.8 mb.