The radiative lifetime of metastable CO ($a^3Π, v=0$)

Gilijamse, Joop J.; Hoekstra, Steven; Meek, Samuel A.; Metsala, Markus; van de Meerakker, Sebastiaan Y. T.; Meijer, Gerard; Groenenboom, Gerrit C.

The radiative lifetime of metastable CO ($a^3Π, v=0$)

Authors

van de Meerakker, Sebastiaan Y. T.

Meijer, Gerard

Groenenboom, Gerrit C.

Description

We present a combined experimental and theoretical study on the radiative lifetime of CO in the $a^3Π_{1,2}, v=0$ state. CO molecules in a beam are prepared in selected rotational levels of this metastable state, Stark-decelerated and electrostatically trapped. From the phosphorescence decay in the trap, the radiative lifetime is measured to be $2.63\pm0.03$ ms for the $a^3Π_1, v=0, J=1$ level. From spin-orbit coupling between the $a^3Π$ and the $A^1Π$ state a 20% longer radiative lifetime of 3.16 ms is calculated for this level. It is concluded that coupling to other $^1Π$ states contributes to the observed phosphorescence rate of metastable CO.
replaced with final version, added journal reference