Abstract

An apparatus has been developed for the study of the afterglow of a rare-earth spark with a time resolution of 0.1 μsec. A hydrogen thyratron controls a rapidly firing spark gap and the spectrum of the afterglow is recorded with pulsed photomultipliers and ratio techniques. Tests with preseodymium have shown that it is possible to separate lines according to the ion of origin for the second, third, and fourth spectra, according to configuration of origin in the third spectrum of praseodymium, for example, the emission lines of the 4f²6p–4f²6s and 4f²5d–4f³ transitions. In the case of the 4f²5d–4f³ transition, some terms of the 4f²5d configuration are indicated from the more intense lines. The methods developed with praseodymium have been applied to neodymium, and some preliminary results are reported.

© 1962 Optical Society of America

Emission Spectra of the Doubly and Triply Ionized Rare Earths*

G. H. Dieke, H. M. Crosswhite, and B. Dunn
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 51(8) 820-827 (1961)

Rare-earth 4d absorption spectra in rare-earth trifluorides

C. G. Olson and D. W. Lynch
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New Vacuum-Ultraviolet Emission Continua of Helium Produced in High-Pressure Discharges

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Analysis of the Third Spectrum of Praseodymium*

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The Atomic Spectra of the Rare Earths: Their Presence in the Sun

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