1998 Articles

Precision measurement of the lifetime of the 1s2s3S1 metastable level in heliumlike O6+

Savin, Daniel Wolf; Lopez-Urrutia, J. R. Crespo; Beiersdorfer, P.; Widmann, K.

The lifetime of the 1s2s3S1 level of the He-like O6+ ion has been measured using the Electron Beam Ion Trap in the magnetic trapping mode. A value of 956-4+5 μs is found, which corresponds to a radiative transition rate of 1046-5+4 s-1 for the magnetic dipole transition to the 1s21S0 ground state. This value is in excellent agreement with recent theoretical predictions and distinguishes among different treatments of negative energy states and correlation in multiconfiguration Dirac-Fock calculations.