ON THE PREPARATION AND OBSERVATION OF THE TRIPLY EXCITED DISCRETE STATE HE- 2P(3)(4)S(0)

Calculations have shown that the decay of the highly excited He-2p3 4S(o) takes place via a bound-free radiative transition as a narrow band of extremely short wavelength radiation around lambda almost-equal-to 317 angstrom, with a lifetime of tau almost-equal-to 1 x 10(-10) s. Given that the final state is empty, population of He-2p3 4S(o), which remains unobserved, implies the automatic establishment of population inversion. Considering the magnitude of the relevant atomic properties, two experimentally feasible pathways for preparing He-2p3 4S(o) (and similar states) are proposed.