ZEEMAN EFFECT STUDIES OF THE WATER-VAPOR LASER OSCILLATING ON THE 118.65 μm TRANSITION

Abstract

Zeeman effect studies of the 118.65 μm line of a CW water-vapor laser have shown that the levels involved in the transition have lifetimes between 0.04 and 0.4 μsec and the same total angular momentum, and that the transition has an effective magnetic moment of about 3/4 of a nuclear magneton. These results were obtained by a new spectroscopic technique making explicit use of the saturation behavior of the laser oscillator. This technique enables lifetimes, angular momenta, and magnetic moments to be determined with magnetic field splittings of the order of or less than a tenth of the natural width of the transition.