MOMENTUM TRANSPORT CROSS-SECTIONS FOR EXCITED AND GROUND-STATE POTASSIUM WITH RARE-GASES BY LIGHT-INDUCED DIFFUSIVE PULLING

We have used the light-induced diffusive pulling (LDP) method to measure the ground state momentum transport cross sections and the relative difference of the excited and ground state cross sections with respect to the ground state for potassium with several inert gas atoms. For the LDP measurements, the excited state cross section is a weighted average of the potassium 4(2)P3/2 and 4(2)P1/2 fine structure levels, which are mixed by collisions with the inert gas atoms. We have also used a light-induced drift (LID) experiment to measure the ratio of the differences in the excited and ground state cross sections for the individual fine structure levels (DELTAsigma(J=3/2):DELTAsigma(J=1/2)) for potassium-Ne and potassium-Ar. For the case of potassium-Ar, we have combined this ratio with the results from the LDP measurements to obtain absolute transport cross sections for the individual 4(2)S1/2, 4(2)P1/2 and 4(2)P3/2 levels.