We have developed an experimental setup which allows us to observe weak continuum radiation of collisional quasimolecules involving metal atoms. The setup consists of a tunable pulsed laser used for excitation of metal atoms, a fluorescence cell which contains metal-vapor and foreign-gas mixture, a gated spectrometric multichannel analyzer, and an absorp-tion cell as a filter for suppressing leakeage light of the line core. The setup is described in detail as well as the experimental procedure and results for observing the continuum radiation in far wings of the Yb resonance line which is broadened by collisions with He, Ne, and Ar.
We developed a new type of multichannel spectrometer (polychromator) in which a measurable spectral range is extended without changing gratings. A concave grating with an arm is rotated to scan the spectral range while the focused plane is fixed onto a field. The length and the angle of the arm to the grating is discussed. Applications of this multichannel spectrometer are also discussed.