Effects of fine-structure depolarization studied by resonant coherent excitation of H-like Ar17+

We studied the anisotropy of Ly-α x-rays from H-like Ar17+ ions excited by polarization-controlled resonant coherent excitation. The effects of fine-structure depolarization on the 2p1/2 and 2p3/2 states were experimentally demonstrated as a reduction in anisotropy of decay radiation.