Magneto-Galvanic Effect in a Hollow Cathode Lamp: New Experimental Investigation

We report new experimental evidence of a magneto-galvanic (MG) effect in commercial hollow cathode lamps (HCL). The goal of our investigation is to clarify the role of the neon 2p 5 3s configuration in the formation of the MG signals. Our results eloquently relate the origin of the MG signal in the HCL discharge with the self-alignment of the 1s 5 metastable state. The observed destruction of the narrow resonance could be explained analogously to the optical depletion ("pumping-off") of the 1s 5 metastable state.