Abstract

Planetary atoms¹, which have two highly excited electrons, are expected to exhibit new phenomena because the interelectron interaction can be as great as the central force which binds either electron. Angular correlations are expected to be particularly significant as the available phase space increases and as the e-e interaction becomes more anisotropic. We have used a four photon excitation technique² in conjunction with mass specific ionic detection to populate and identify msns, ¹S_o states of barium having energies between 105,000cm^-1 and 114,000cm^-1.

© 1984 Optical Society of America