Lifetimes of bound excited states of Pt-

Abstract

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 5d(10)6(s) S-2(1/2) excited state and a lifetime in the range of 50-200 ms for the lower- lying 5d(9)6(s)(2) D-2(3/2) 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.