Natural radiative lifetimes of 10 levels of singly ionized ytterbium have b
een measured with time-resolved laser spectroscopy. Free Yb+ ions were prod
uced in a laser-induced plasma. A stimulated Brillouin scattering technique
has been used to produce laser pulses as short as 1 ns for the excitation
of short-lived Yb+ states. Pseudo-relativistic Hartree-Fock calculations, t
aking into account the core-polarization effects, have also been performed.
A good agreement of the measured and the calculated lifetime values has be
en achieved.