Inverse hook method for measuring oscillator strengths for transitions between excited atomic states [1]

We describe an effective new method to measure the oscillator strengths for transitions between the excited states of atoms. The oscillator strength is determined, by measuring changes in the angular distribution or polarization of fluorescence light emitted by atoms in the initial or final state of the transition of interest, after these atoms have been subject to the a.c. Stark shift of an off-resonant laser pulse. The physics of the situation is very similar to that of the conventional hook method with this difference: the roles of the atoms and the photons have been interchanged. We therefore call this new methodthe inverse hook method. The inverse hook method is relatively insensitive to the details of the atomic absorption lineshape and also to the temporal and spectral profile of the laser pulse. It yields absolute oscillator strengths and it is especially suitable for measurements of transitions between excited atomic states, including autoionizing states.