MEASUREMENTS OF SATURATION BROADENING OF THE CU 5S' 4D5/2 AUTOIONIZATION LEVEL BY THE PULSED OPTOGALVANIC TECHNIQUE

The use of the optogalvanic technique to obtain the line profile of the Cu 5s'4D5/2 autoionization level with different degrees of saturation broadening is demonstrated. The experimental results point out that the growth of the autoionization-level breadth follows the square root of the increase in the laser intensity. The measured value of the natural breadth of the Cu5s'4D5/2 autoionization level is 7.2+/-0.6 cm-1. The laser saturation intensity was measured by two different methods, and its value is about 0.39+/-0.09 MW/cm2.