Ionization and excitation of uranium in a hollow-cathode lamp

Abstract
The influence of different carrier gases (Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe), their pressure, and discharge current on the excitation and ionization of uranium atoms in a vapor generator of hollow-cathode design has been investigated by monitoring emission line intensities. From our measurements of line intensities as a function of the carrier gas we obtain an indication of the role of Penning collisions on the excitation of radiative levels in U ii.