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University of Missouri--Rolla

The lifetime and effective quenching cross section of the 6²P₃/₂ state of thallium

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

"The measurement of the lifetime of the metastable 6²P₃/₂ state of thallium is discussed. Measurement of time varying optical absorption by time sampling techniques is explained for the study of the decay of the metastable atom concentration following a pulsed radio frequency discharge. The decay of the thallium radiation from optically allowed states terminating on the metastable state is measured at nine different thallium densities in the afterglow of the discharge. This radiation repopulates the metastable state and is displayed on an oscilloscope. The metastable lifetime is measured as a function of the thallium density at three different r-f power levels and by two modes of operation. At high thallium densities where thallium collisions control the diffusion of the metastable atoms, the lifetime measurements yielded a thallium diffusion cross section for the 6²P₃/₂ state of 100 ± 30 c 10 ⁻¹⁶ cm² and an effective self quenching cross section of 5.4 ± 0.5 x 10⁻¹⁶ cm²"--page [i].

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Ph. D. in Physics
Grantor
University of Missouri--Rolla
Year dc:date.available
2016

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Pickett, Robert Charles

Subjects

dc:subject × 1

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:scholarsmine.mst.edu:doctoral_dissertations-2981

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Base URL
scholarsmine.mst.edu/do/oai/
Last updated
2026-07-24
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
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citation

Pickett, Robert Charles. The lifetime and effective quenching cross section of the 6²P₃/₂ state of thallium. University of Missouri--Rolla, 2016. https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/doctoral_dissertations/1979