Polarization ofS122Ground State of Even Isotopes ofHg+by Stepwise Electron Impact

Abstract

The $6s{}_{}{}^2{}_{}{}^{}S_{\frac{1}{2}}^{}{}_{}{}^{}$ ground ionic state of even isotopes of mercury was polarized in a stepwise excitation process from the atomic $6s^2{}_{}{}^1{}_{}{}^{}S_0^{}{}_{}{}^{}$ ground state via the metastable $6s6p{}_{}{}^3{}_{}{}^{}P_2^{}{}_{}{}^{}$ state. The latter was optically pumped with polarized 5461-Å ($6s7s{}_{}{}^3{}_{}{}^{}S_1^{}{}_{}{}^{}-{}_{}{}^3{}_{}{}^{}P_2^{}{}_{}{}^{}$) radiation. Paramagnetic resonance, observed by monitoring the change in intensity of the relatively intense 2851-Å ($5d^{9}6s^2{}_{}{}^2{}_{}{}^{}D_{\frac{5}{2}}^{}{}_{}{}^{}-5\mathrm{}{d}^{10}6s{}_{}{}^2{}_{}{}^{}S_{\frac{1}{2}}^{}{}_{}{}^{}$) electric quadrupole resonance radiation, was used to determine the polarization of the even-isotope ground-state ion to be 15%. If one assumes conservation of spin angular momentum, this process should yield highly polarized electrons.