Method of Direct Detection and Investigation of Long-Lived Excited States of Singly and Multiply Charged Ions of Transition and Rare-Earth Metals

A method has been proposed for the direct detection and study of long-lived excited states of singly and multiply charged ions of transition and rare earth metals. It allows both the measurement of the photon spectra from the decay of long-lived states of ions with a given charge, as well as the lifetimes of such states, and the investigation of the influence of an electric field on the characteristics of long-lived states. The fast electric-field-induced decay of long-lived states has been found for the first time.