In this work we present progress towards the development of a map of the lifetimes of rovibrational states of the 6_1\Sigma^+_g state of diatomic sodium molecules. This research in chemical physics is focused on improving our understanding of fundamental aspects of matter. This particular electronic state is of interest to us as it possesses a double well potential energy curve. This produces two regimes, one where the wavefunction is located primarily within the inner well (<~100 nm) and one where the wavefunction is located within the outer well (~130nm-200nm). These two types of rovibrational states are expected to have wildly different lifetimes and properties. We use homemade dye lasers pumped by an ND:YAG 532nm beam in order to selectively excite states of interest within a high temperature (>573K) heat pipe oven with argon buffer gas. Then high-resolution time-resolved photon counting techniques are used to measure pressure-dependent effective lifetime of states, which are used to extract the radiative lifetime of the rovibrational state we are studying. We present techniques and results of various rovibrational states (v=6,7,8,9,10,11, J=31 and v=40, J=23) as well as future plans for continuing to expand our understanding of the physical properties of this state. This understanding is highly related to recent works in ultracold molecular physics, which requires extreme precision in the energy levels of the molecules as well as their stabilities.
Author(s): Morgan Davies, Physics and Chemistry Major
Advisor(s): Burcin Bayram, Department of Physics
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