Abstract
We describe and use a time-resolved pump-stimulated emission pump spectroscopic technique to measure collisional relaxation in a high-lying energy level of atomic cesium. Aligned 8p(2)P(3/2) cesium atoms were produced by a pump laser. A second laser, the stimulated emission pump, promoted the population exclusively to the 5d(2)D(5/2) level. The intensity of the 5d(2)D(5/2) 6s(2)S(1/2) cascade fluorescence at 852.12 nm was monitored. The linear polarization dependence of the 6s(2)S(1/2) 8p(2)P(3/2) 5d(2)S(5/2) transition was measured in the presence of argon gas at various pressures. From the measurement, we obtained the disalignment cross sectional value for the 8p(2)P(3/2) level due to collisions with ground-level argon atoms. Published by Elsevier B.V.