Phys. Rev. A 67, 010501(R) (2003) [4 pages]Precision measurement of the metastable 3P2 lifetime of neon
The lifetime of the metastable 3P2 state of neon has been determined as 14.73(14)s [decay rate 0.06790(64)s-1] by measuring the decay in fluorescence of an ensemble of 20Ne atoms trapped in a magneto-optical trap (MOT). Due to low background gas pressure (p<5×10-11mbar) and low relative excitation to the 3D3 state (0.5 % excitation probability) only small corrections have to be included in the lifetime extrapolation. Together with a careful analysis of residual loss mechanisms in the MOT a lifetime determination to high precision is achieved. © 2003 The American Physical Society URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevA.67.010501
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevA.67.010501
PACS:
32.70.Cs, 32.70.Fw, 32.80.Pj
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