Yoshiyuki Uchida

Measurement of the lifetime of the copper metastable state in a steady-state discharge using saturated absorption spectroscopy

A new method using saturated laser absorption spectroscopy was developed to determine the lifetime of metastable states in a steady-state discharge. The lifetime of the metastable Cu 4s2 2Dso132 state in d.c. hollow cathode discharge was measured as a function of the discharge current. The observed lifetime is much shorter than is expected for the diffusion loss process and the short lifetime was ascribed to the electron collisional destruction process. The discharge current dependence of the lifetime and the density of the Cu 4s2 2Dso132 state was consistent with this conclusion.