Lifetimes of bound excited states of Pt-

Abstract

Synopsis Measurements of the radiative lifetimes of the two excited states of the platinum anion Pt- are presented. Pt- ions stored in the cryogenic ion storage ring DESIREE were photodetached at different photon wavelengths and the resulting yield of neutral Pt measured as a function of time was recorded. Analysis of the neutral decay curves show a 2:54±0:10 s lifetime for the higher-lying 5d106s 2S1=2 excited state and a lifetime in the range of 50-200 ms for the lower-lying 5d96s2 2D3=2 excited state. This is the first study to report the lifetime of a bound anion excited state with an electron configuration different from that of the anion ground state.