Excitation of nuclei in a hot, dense plasma: feasibility of experiments with Hg-201

It is shown that in a plasma produced on the surface of a sample consisting of a natural mixture of mercury isotopes, similar to 10(4) - 10(5) Hg-201 nuclei can be excited into the low-lying isomeric level 1/2(-) (1.561 keV) by an ultrashort laser pulse with energy approximate to 1 J, duration approximate to 200 fs, and intensity approximate to 10(16) W/cm(2) and the lifetime of the level can be determined. Possible mechanisms leading to the excitation of Hg-201 nuclei by photons and electrons in a dense, hot plasma are examined and the cross sections of the processes are estimated. Schemes for detecting the effect are proposed. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.