Lifetime measurements of metastable states in Fe+

The lifetime of two metastable levels in Fe+ has been measured by laser pro bing of a stored ion beam. In the dense spectrum of Fe+, the metastable lev els a S-6(5/2) and b D-4(7/2) were selected and their lifetimes were determ ined to be 230 +/- 30 and 530 +/- 30 ms, respectively. The: lifetimes are c ompared with previous theoretical results. Metastable lifetime measurements of Fe+ are of great importance fur interpretation of spectra from astronom ical objects. The present experiment opens fur the possibilities to investi gate lifetimes of metastable states in complex atomic ions, which have, so far, been unexplored.