Laser Spectroscopy in the XUV

Abstract

Narrowband Nd-YAG pumped and frequency-doubled dye lasers with outputs in the extreme ultraviolet domain were used in spectroscopic experiments. The studies include: determination of the lifetimes of highly excited states in CO and N2 and their predissociation rates; investigation of highly excited gerade Rydberg states of molecular hydrogen; determination of the transition frequency of the 1s21S-1s2p 1P resonance line of atomic helium; the accurate determination of the Lamb shift in the ground state of helium. Harmonic generation is applied to the laser output to generate coherent XUV radiation. Continuous tunability in the range 54-100 nm was established. Nearly Fourier-transform limited pulses were produced by a pulsed-dye-amplifier.