Vacuum Ultraviolet Perturbation Spectroscopy on the Argon Ion Laser

Vacuum ultraviolet instrumentation compatible with simultaneous operation of the argon ion laser is described and perturbation spectroscopy on the resonance transitions of the argon ion is reported. Observations suggest a largely nonradiative destruction of the lower levels of the lasering transitions at current densities up to 300 A cm−2 and within a pressure range of 0.1 to 0.5 Torr.