Relationship of the laser-induced population perturbation of excited levels with the dynamical optogalvanic signal in a discharge plasma

Abstract

For a pulsed-laser excitation of various neon transitions (1s j → 2p k ) in a glow discharge the population perturbations in the upper and lower levels are measured by emission and absorption spectroscopy, and the dynamical optogalvanic signals are observed. We propose that the population perturbation in the lower levels (1s 2–1s 5) as a whole is responsible for the optogalvanic signal, and that metastable-level populations determine its decay characteristics. The sign reversal of the optogalvanic signal that depends on the excitation condition is interpreted in this context.