Resonance Ionization Diode-Laser Spectroscopy of Neutral Atomic Beam Produced by Pulsed-Ablation Charge Exchange

The lithium ion beam was neutralized in a newly developed charge-exchange cell. The charge exchange was performed with sodium, lithium and iron vapors. The lithium atom was photoionized in a three-step resonance-ionization scheme where the first-step excitation was performed with a cw external-cavity diode laser. The resonance ionization with a diode laser and a pulsed dye laser was as efficient as that with two high-power pulsed dye lasers.