Lifetimes of the 3p⁵5pLevels in Ar I

The 3 p 5 5 p levels of Ar I have been excited by electron bombardment. By using the high frequency deflection technique we have measured the decay rates for 16 transitions from 9 different 5 p levels. Because of favourable intensities, lifetime work at relatively high wavelength resolution (< 1 Å) was possible. Some of the 5 p lifetimes obtained in this experiment tend to be significantly longer than previously reported values. Systematic trends for the 5 p lifetimes are also discussed.