Annealing studies on the absorption spectrum of 41K-atoms trapped in an argon matrix

Argon crystals were doped with 0.2 ppm of ⁴¹K through the nuclear reaction ⁴⁰Ar (n, β^-) ⁴¹K. The absorption spectrum from 300 nm to 800 nm was measured as a function of the annealing temperature. Absorption ← 4²s_{$\text{1}\text{2}$} transition of the free atom could be bands corresponding to the 4²p_{$\text{1}\text{2}$}, _{$\text{3}\text{2}$} ← 4²s_{$\text{1}\text{2}$} and 5²p_{$\text{1}\text{2}$}, _{$\text{3}\text{2}$} ← 4²s_{$\text{1}\text{2}$} transition of the free atom could be observed. The absorption bands depend strongly on the annealing temperature. An increase in the annealing temperature results in a blue shift of the absorption bands.