Initial- and Final-State Alignment and Orientation Effects in Ca Energy Pooling

Published

October 1, 1999

Author(s)

Harold V. Parks, S R. Leone

Abstract

An experimental investigation is performed to determine the initial- and final-state alignment effects in the energy-pooling process Ca(4s4p ³P₁) + Ca(4s4p ¹P₁)->Ca(4s4p ¹P₁)+Ca(4s²). This paper represents a type of four-vector correlation experiment, where two aligned atoms collide and the alignment of the final excited state is observed. The initial Ca(4s4p ³P₁) state polarization is controlled with polarized lasers and magnetic fields, and the final-state alignment is partially resolved by observing the polarization of the fluorescence from the Ca(4s4p ¹P₁)->Ca(4s²) emission. The mathematics are developed in this paper to provide a full quantitative description of the four-vector alignment cross sections observed here. Relative values that describe 18 of the 39 total independent parameters are obtained, obtained, thus defining the results of this collision process at an unprecedented level of detail. The final-state CA polarization is found to be only weakly dependent on the initial-state alignment, with final-state fluorescence predominately polarized along the relative velocity vector of the collision.

Citation

Physical Review A (Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics)

Volume

60

Issue

No. 4

Pub Type

Journals

Keywords

alignment orientation, atomic collisions, energy pooling

Citation

Parks, H. and Leone, S. (1999), Initial- and Final-State Alignment and Orientation Effects in Ca Energy Pooling, Physical Review A (Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics) (Accessed July 27, 2024)