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The two metastable levels 5d(2)D(3/2) and 5d(2) D-5/2 in Ba II both show extremely long lifetimes of the order of several tens of seconds each. This has been found both by experiments and by theoretical predictions. The small transition probabilities associated with these two levels make them interesting and challenging for theoreticians as well as for experimentalists. Several calculations and measurements of these two lifetimes have been made previously but discrepancies between the results are present. This article presents values of ??? = 89.4 +/- 15.6 s for the D-2(3/2) level and ??? = 32.0 +/- 4.6 s for the D-2(5/2) level measured in a beam-laser experiment performed at the ion storage ring CRYRING. These values are supported by our new calculations resulting in ???= 82.0 s for the D-2(3/2) level and ???= 31.6 s for the D-2(5/2) level.

We present a technique for measuring the radiative lifetimes of metastable states of negative ions that involves the use of a heavy-ion storage ring. The method has been applied to investigate the radiative decay of the np(3) P-2(1/2) levels of Te-(n=5) and Se-(n=4) and the 3p(3) D-2 state of Si- for which the J=3/2 and 5/2 levels were unresolved. All of these states are metastable and decay primarily by emission of E2 and M1 radiation. Multi Configuration Dirac-Hartree-Fock calculations of rates for the transitions in Te- and Se- yielded lifetimes of 0.45 s and 4.7 s, respectively. The measured values agree well with these predicted values. In the case of the D-2 state of Si-, however, our measurement was only able to set a lower limit on the lifetime. The upper limit of the lifetime that can be measured with our apparatus is set by how long the ions can be stored in the ring, a limit determined by the rate of collisional detachment. Our lower limit of 1 min for the lifetime of the D-2 state is consistent with both the calculated lifetimes of 162 s for the D-2(3/2) level and 27.3 h for the D-2(5/2) level reported by O'Malley and Beck and 14.5 h and 12.5 h, respectively, from our Breit-Pauli calculations.

A laser probing technique for lifetime measurements of long- lived metastable levels has been developed at the ion storage ring CRYRING. The method has been in use for about eight years and it has been applied to various ions. Levels with radiative lifetimes from a few milliseconds up to 28 s have been measured. The method has been continuously developed and this article is focused on recent experimental developments of the method in order to widen its applicability and to increase its efficiency and accuracy., QC 20111013

An experimental investigation of the radiative lifetime of the metastable 4s(2)4p(4)(P-3)4d D-4(7/2) level in Kr II shows an unusual situation regarding the importance of an M2 depopulation channel. While the first order M1 and E2 channels are expected to contribute in a dominant way to the decay, the experimental result, obtained using a laser probing technique on a stored ion beam, tau=0.57+/-0.03 s, is far too short to be due to these channels according to our relativistic multiconfiguration Dirac-Fock calculation. Only if second order contributions to the decay branches (including essentially the M2 contribution) are taken into account in the calculations could the unexpected short lifetime be explained., QC 20110927

We report on a calculation of five lifetimes of metastable levels in Ar II, obtained with a relativistic Hartree-Fock method in which most of the intravalence correlation is represented within a configuration interaction scheme while core-valence correlation is described by a core-polarization model potential with a core-penetration corrective term. The quality of the calculation has been assessed through an experimental determination of the radiative lifetime of the metastable 3d(4)F(9/2) level. The experiment was performed with a laser probing technique on a stored ion beam at the CRYRING of Stockholm., QC 20111102

Lifetime measurements of the metastable 3d D-2(3/2) level in singly charged calcium were performed using the newly developed violet diode laser operated in an external cavity arrangement. The laser was employed on stored ions at the CRYRING facility to optically pump the resonance line at 397 nm. In combination with laser probing at 866 nm this detection scheme gave the possibility to record the lifetime of this level. which has a radiative lifetime of about 1 s., QC 20111031