title: Temperature dependence of Rb 5P fine-structure transfer induced by 4He collisions.
abstract: Employing ultrafast laser excitation and time-correlated single-photon counting, we have measured the fine-structure transfer between Rb 5P states induced by collisions with 4He buffer gas at temperatures up to 150 °C. The temperature dependence of the binary cross section agrees with earlier measurements. Our data show that the temperature dependence of the three-body rate is about the same as that of the binary rate. The three-body rate can be described as arising from the reduction of the rubidium fine-structure splitting due to nearby helium atoms.
authors.affiliation: Laser and Optics Research Center, US Air Force Academy, Department of Physics, USAF Academy, Colorado 80840, USA. alina.gearba@usm.edu
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Gearba
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Sell
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Patterson
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lloyd
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Plyler
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Knize