Radiative lifetimes of highly excited even-parity levels in Gd i and Gd ii

Abstract

Radiative lifetimes of 94 high-lying even-parity levels from 29 717.231 to 41 692.155 cm−1 of Gd i and 10 high-lying even-parity levels from 38 057.954 to 49 291.082 cm−1 of Gd ii, have been measured using time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence method. The lifetime values range from 7.1 to 220 ns for Gd i and from 5.2 to 47.4 ns for Gd ii. Most results reported here lie within the uncertainty of ±5 per cent. Free neutral and singly ionized gadolinium atoms were generated by laser ablation. The second harmonic of different dye lasers was employed as the tunable UV exciting source (242–337 nm) to excite the investigated levels. A good agreement between our results and the previous ones was achieved.