The FERRUM project: radiative lifetimes of the 3d(5)(S-6)4s4p(P-3)y P-6 degrees states of FeII measured with time-resolved vacuum ultra-violet laser spectroscopy

We report on lifetime measurements of the 3d(5)(S-6)4s4p(P-3)y P-6 degrees states of Fe II using time-resolved vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) laser spectroscopy. A laser-produced plasma has been used as the source of free Fe+ ions. The tunable VUV radiation was obtained employing resonantly enhanced sum-difference four-wave-mixing of short laser pulses. We obtained tau((6)P(3/2)degrees) = 3.90(20) ns, tau((6)P(5/2)degrees) = 3.80(20) ns and tau((6)P(7/2)degrees) = 3.65(20) ns