hide
Free keywords:
-
Abstract:
An experimental technique in which the high power of a pulsed laser is combined with the narrow bandwidth of a cw laser has been used to study the NO(E 2Σ+, ν = 0 ← A 2Σ+, ν = 0) band under high resolution. The spin-rotation splitting in the E 2Σ+, ν = 0 state is determined, and a value for the splitting constant γ of −3.15±0.20 MHz is found. A small perturbation of the E 2Σ+, ν = 0 state is observed and is explained by an interaction with the B 2Π, ν = 17 state. From time-resolved fluorescence measurements a lifetime of τ = 41±2 ns is found for the E 2Σ+, ν = 0 state. The coupling of the E state and the A state with the cw laser results in a time-resolved E → A fluorescence curve which must be described using the optical Bloch equations. Rabi oscillations seen in the experimental curves can be correctly simulated using this quantum-mechanical description.
