SPECTROSCOPIC DETERMINATION OF Cs (62P1/2) EXCITED STATE CONCENTRATIONS IN Cs-Ar LOW-PRESSURE GAS DISCHARGES

Abstract

The results of a spectroscopic determination of the concentration of excited Cs atoms in the 6²P_1/2 state as present in a low‐pressure Cs‐Ar discharge are presented. The concentrations are calculated from the measured absorption from a continuum source using a numerically calculated curve of growth for which the effects of hyperfine splitting are properly taken into account. At low current densities the excited state concentration varies linearly with the free electron concentration and the Cs ground state concentration as well. This result is used to estimate the effect of the trapping of the 6²P_1/2−6²S_1/2 resonance radiation on the lifetime of the 6²P_1/2 state.