Polarization of collisionally redistributed light from the far wings of strontium-rare-gas systems

We have made systematic measurements of the polarization of fluorescence from Sr-rare-gas systems excited off resonance by linearly polarized light. Measurements of this type give information about the evolution during a collision after the absorption of a photon. This information is important in obtaining and verifying aspects of the interaction potential that cannot be studied using conventional line-broadening experiments. We have also measured the collisional-alignment decay rates for Sr-rare-gas systems by observing the perturber-pressure dependence of the polarization of the fluorescence. To the best of our knowledge this is a new technique for measuring these decay rates.