Lifetime measurements on long-lived levels of confined highly charged ions

A technique based on the injection of highly charged ions from new low-energy ion sources into a Kingdon ion trap has been used to measure millisecond or longer lifetimes τ of metastable levels in ground terms of the ions. The technique has been initially applied to ions of argon, with the results τ(${\mathrm{Ar}}^{10+}$,2${\mathit{p}}^4$ ${}_{}{}^3{}_{}{}^{}$ ${\mathit{P}}_1$)=14.8(1.1) ms, τ(${\mathrm{Ar}}^{9+}$,2${\mathit{p}}^5$ ${}_{}{}^2{}_{}{}^{}$ ${\mathit{P}}_{1/2}$)=8.53(0.24) ms, and τ(${\mathrm{Ar}}^{2+}$,3${\mathit{p}}^4$ ${}_{}{}^1{}_{}{}^{}$ ${\mathit{S}}_0$)=159.7(9.7) ms.