Noble gas pressure broadening of the 7Li 2s–3s transition

Abstract

We have made measurements of the foreign gas line broadening rate for the 2s–3s transition in atomic lithium, with rare gas perturbers ranging from neon to xenon. The experimentally determined broadening rates are compared with calculations in the impact approximation made on both ab initio potentials and long-range potentials due to Proctor and Stwalley (1977 J. Chem. Phys. 66 2063). We also provide experimental estimates of the shift rate for the rare gases argon to xenon. We discuss our measurements in the context of previous determinations of alkali atom s-state broadening and shift rates.