MEASUREMENT OF THE COLLISIONAL LINE BROADENING CROSS-SECTIONS AND ASYMMETRY FOR POTASSIUM RARE-GAS PAIRS

The collisional broadening cross sections of potassium with the rare g ases He, Ne and Ar were measured, using a new absorption-polarization method, which involves the Faraday rotation near an atomic resonance. These cross sections above and below the resonance transitions 4S1/2-4 P1/2.3/2 show an asymmetry of the broadenings. The interaction time of the potassium-rare gas pair was found to increase from 0.3 ps for He to 1.3 ps for Ar.