The FERRUM project: Experimental transition probabilities from highly excited even 5s levels in Cr II

We report lifetime measurements of the five levels in the 3d(4)(a(5)D)5s e(6)D term in Cr II at an energy around 83 000 cm(-1), and log(gf) values for 38 transitions from the investigated levels. The lifetimes are obtained using time-resolved, laser-induced fluorescence on ions from a laser-produced plasma. Since the levels have the same parity as the low-lying states directly populated in the plasma, we used a two-photon excitation scheme. This process is greatly facilitated by the presence of the 3d(4)(a(5)D)4p z(6)F levels at roughly half the energy difference. The f-values are obtained by combining the experimental lifetimes with branching fractions derived using relative intensities from a hollow cathode lamp recorded with a Fourier transform spectrometer.