Effect of the optical orientation of spin angular momenta of sodium atoms in the 32 S 1/2 state and metastable helium atoms in the 23 S 1 state on the Na-He gas-discharge plasma conduction

Abstract

The observation of the effect of mutual orientation of spin angular momenta of sodium atoms in the 32 S 1/2 state and helium atoms in the 23 S 1 state on the electrical conduction of a Na-He gas-discharge plasma is reported. In the experiments, a simultaneous optical orientation of atoms by the optical emission of sodium and helium lamps was carried out. The influence of the mutual orientation on the conduction was observed as a change in the high-frequency voltage across electrodes of a gas-discharge camera caused by the destruction of orientation of sodium atoms. The effect is explained by the dependence of Penning ionization in the interaction of sodium and helium atoms on the mutual orientation of spin angular momenta of partners.