Rydberg transitions in neon observed by optogalvanic effect in the 830–870 and 380–420 nm regions

Abstract

New optogalvanic (OG) Rydberg–Rydberg transitions of neon have been observed in the near-infrared region (830–870 nm), using a commercial Fe–Ne hollow cathode. They involve transitions from the 3d[3/2] J=1 and 3d[7/2] J=3,4 levels to high-lying nf levels. In addition, other OG transitions, observed in the blue range, have been completely assigned to ns, nd, ns′ and nd′ Rydberg series excited from the 3p[1/2] J=1 and 3p[5/2] J=2,3 levels of neon. These transitions and assignments allowed us to extend the range of tunable laser calibration on the two edges of the visible range, where there is a lack of available calibration lines, i.e. the near-infrared and the far-blue range, with a 0.01 nm absolute accuracy.