Installation for measurements of the effective lifetimes of levels excited by high-energy charged particles

A device for measuring effective lifetimes of atomic or molecular levels in gas mixtures and in mixtures consisting of saturated metal vapours and high-pressure gases is described. The mixtures were excited by 252Cf fission fragments or by alpha particles from 239Pu, after which time distribution of luminescence pulse appearance was measured with respect to exciting pulses. Measurements have been taken at a temperature of 20 deg C at pressures ranging from 1 to 4000 torr for gas mixtures and at temperatures from 20 to 600 deg C in the pressure range from 10 to 750 torr for mixtures consisting of saturated metal vapours and gases. Time resolution of electronic units is 0.2 ns, that of the whole device is <=4 ns, the time interval being measured constitutes 2 - 5000 ns, the time conversion nonlinearity is 1%