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Title: Optical pumping of metastable NH radicals into the paramagnetic ground state

Journal Article · · Physical Review. A
;  [1];  [2];  [1]
  1. FOM-Institute for Plasmaphysics Rijnhuizen, P.O. Box 1207, NL-3430 BE Nieuwegein (Netherlands)
  2. General Physics Institute RAS, Vavilov street 38, 119991 Moscow (Russian Federation)

We here report on the optical pumping of both {sup 14}NH and {sup 15}NH radicals from the metastable a {sup 1}{delta} state into the X {sup 3}{sigma}{sup -} ground state in a molecular beam experiment. By inducing the hitherto unobserved spin-forbidden A {sup 3}{pi} <- a {sup 1}{delta} transition, followed by spontaneous emission to the X {sup 3}{sigma}{sup -} state, a unidirectional pathway for population transfer from the metastable state into the electronic ground state is obtained. The optical pumping scheme demonstrated here opens up the possibility to accumulate NH radicals in a magnetic or optical trap.

OSTI ID:
20640170
Journal Information:
Physical Review. A, Vol. 68, Issue 3; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.68.032508; (c) 2003 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1050-2947
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English