Lifetime measurements of metastable states in Fe

• Published in: Physical review letters Vol. 86; no. 8; pp. 1466 - 1469
• Main Authors: Rostohar, D, Derkatch, A, Hartman, H, Johansson, S, Lundberg, H, Mannervik, S, Norlin, L O, Royen, P, Schmitt, A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 19-02-2001
• Subjects: Astronomi, astrofysik och kosmologi; Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology; Fysik; Natural Sciences; Naturvetenskap; Physical Sciences
• ISSN: 0031-9007; 1079-7114; 1079-7114
• DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.86.1466

The lifetime of two metastable levels in Fe+ has been measured by laser probing of a stored ion beam. In the dense spectrum of Fe+, the metastable levels a (6)S(5/2) and b (4)D(7/2) were selected and their lifetimes were determined to be 230 +/- 30 and 530 +/- 30 ms, respectively. The lifetimes are compared with previous theoretical results. Metastable lifetime measurements of Fe+ are of great importance for interpretation of spectra from astronomical objects. The present experiment opens for the possibilities to investigate lifetimes of metastable states in complex atomic ions, which have, so far, been unexplored.