Saturation measurements of excited-state transitions in noble gases using the optogalvanic effect.

Saturation intensities have been measured for 20 transitions between excited states of argon, krypton, and neon in the 1.3- and 1.5-microm regions. Values of I(sat), corrected for an incident beam with a circular Gaussian intensity profile, range from 20 to 2000 mW/cm(2).