Determination of diffusion coefficients of mercury atoms in various gases from longitudinal spin relaxation in magnetic gradients

Abstract

We present a method to measure the binary diffusion coefficient of mercury atoms in a gas at room temperature and low pressure. It is based on the measurement of the longitudinal spin relaxation of optically pumped mercury-199 atoms in a magnetic field gradient. We provide a consistent set of diffusion coefficients for helium-3, helium-4, argon, krypton, xenon, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, oxygen, and air.