Laser guided chemistry: Effect of optical orientation on atom-dimer equilibria in alkali metal vapors

The shift in equilibrium in the reactions ;This research on the mixed isotope system of lithium is the first recorded for a heteronuclear diatomic molecule. A decrease in the molecular density of 15% was observed. To explain the modest shift in the molecular density, measurements were made of the atomic spin relaxation time. The measured relaxation time was approximately 10 milliseconds. The results are interpreted using this information.;Although the effect of optical orientation on the sodium atom-dimer equlibrium has been previously studied, the current research shows that the change in the molecular density does not follow a two-level, theoretical model as previously reported. An average decrease in the molecular density of more than 70% was observed at an atomic orientation greater than 90%.;Also discussed in this thesis are attempts to extend the method of optical orientation to a chemical system in which one of the species was atomic hydrogen.