Studies of the optogalvanic effect in a commercial caesium hollow cathode lamp and its use for tuning pulsed dye lasers

The use of the optogalvanic effect (OGE) in a hollow cathode lamp for wavelength tuning of dye lasers is an established technique at laser wavelengths longer than 560 nm, corresponding to photon energies less than 2.2 eV. This work describes the first successful optogalvanic studies on caesium at higher photon energies. Once set up, OGE in a standard commercial hollow cathode lamp provides a quick and cheap means of tuning a continuously tunable laser to a chosen atomic transition. The lines in caesium at 455.55 nm and 459.32 nm were resolved. This work is also believed to be the first to describe the detection of any caesium transition using the optogalvanic effect in a commercial hollow cathode lamp, rather than a specially constructed tube. The method used is applicable to other materials which have previously proved difficult.