Polarization and collision-induced coherence in the beam-foil light source

Monatomic systems were excited by the beam-foil method in order to re-examine the possibility that a particular magnetic substate was preferentially populated. O II, Ar II and He I levels were used. The results reveal that: (1) with a tilted foil substantial polarization (up to 15%) may be achieved, (2) the polarization is due to the foil, (3) the foil induces coherence among Zeeman substates with the appearance of quantum beats among these substates and that their coherence is due to the externally applied magnetic field perpendicular to the beam direction, and (4) the angular momentum of the emitted photon is perpendicular to the ion velocity. The possibility for detecting separate effects of alignment and polarization is noted.