Anomalous line shapes associated with the 3 (3)P state of atomic oxygen.

Abstract

The 3${\mathrm{}}^{3}$P--5${\mathrm{}}^{3}$S transition in atomic oxygen at 725.4 nm has been studied in a weak discharge using the optogalvanic effect with a cw tunable dye laser. The transition appears as a superposition of at least two components with different centroids and widths. The anomalous line shape is probably due to the long-range interaction of $^{3}$P oxygen with $^{4}$${\mathit{S}}_{0}$ oxygen ions.