Magnetic coherence transfer induced by discharge radiation and the effect of radiation trapping on the lifetime of the hidden alignment of Ne terms

The dichroism of a neon gas discharge plasma in a weak magnetic field is investigated by scanning the 3 s 2 -2 p 4 transition by monochromatic laser radiation. Magneto-optical resonances of the intrinsic macroscopic alignment and hidden alignment of the 2 p 4 level are separated. Against the background of these resonances, resonances attributed to coherence transfer from the 1 s 2, 4, 5 levels and the birefringence of the wings of the nearest absorption lines from the 1 s 4, 5 levels are observed. A new type of alignment is revealed—integral hidden alignment, whose lifetime, in contrast to the case with macroscopic alignment, increases without bound with increasing radiation trapping.