Light induced drift of atomic lithium vapor without adsorption on the walls of the cell

Abstract

The light-induced drift in Li-Xe mixture without adsorption on the cell walls has been investigated. The drift velocity ū has been measured. The experiments, performed with specially designed capillary cells with walls coated by paraffin, has shown, that undercooled lithium vapor may exist in such a cell for a long period of time without formation of centers of condensation at a temperature of the cell of 80°C. Cause of the chemical “death” of lithium atoms has been studied also. A lithium lifetime of (1.5 ± 0.2) × 10 −2s was obtained.