Spectroscopy of the high-lying vibrational levels of the $1\sp3\Sigma\sbsp{g}{+}$ and $1\sp1\Sigma\sbsp{u}{+}$ states of both $\rm\sp6Li\sb2$ and $\rm\sp7Li\sb2$ has been accomplished via photoassociation of ultracold atomic lithium confined in a magneto-optical trap. Both these molecular states correlate to $2S\sb{1/2}$ plus $2P\sb{1/2}$ free atomic states. The long range part of these molecular potentials depends on the 2P atomic radiative lifetime. Accurate models were constructed for both the $1\sp3\Sigma\sbsp{g}{+}$ and $1\sp1\Sigma\sbsp{u}{+}$ potentials. By fitting these models to the experimentally measured vibrational levels observed in $\rm\sp6Li\sb2$ and $\rm\sp7Li\sb2$, we have been able to extract a value for the 2P lifetime of lithium. Fitting to the absolute values of the data gives a value of 26.99 $\pm$ 0.16 ns whereas fitting to differences in the spectral features gives a value of 27.04 $\pm$ 0.18 ns. While both values agree with previous work, improvements made in the potential models would enable this analysis to resolve the current discrepancy between experiment and theory.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:RICE/oai:scholarship.rice.edu:1911/13974 |
| Date | January 1995 |
| Creators | McAlexander, William Ian |
| Contributors | Hulet, Randall G. |
| Source Sets | Rice University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Text |
| Format | 85 p., application/pdf |
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