The 5d-6p VUV Photoabsorption Spectrum of Bi⁺

Abstract

The photoabsorption spectrum of Bi+ was measured in the wavelength range between 37 and 60 nm, using the dual laser plasma technique in which one plasma is used as the source of vacuum ultraviolet continuum radiation and the other plasma is used as the sample of atoms and/or ions to be probed. A number of features in the Bi+ spectrum was identified with the aid of the Cowan suite of atomic codes. The 5d → 6p transitions from the ground configuration (5d106s26p2) gave rise to the most prominent features in the measured spectrum. Transitions from low-lying excited states associated with the four excited configurations, 5d106s26p6d, 5d106s26p7s, 5d106s26p7p and 5d106s6p3, were found to make small contributions to the observed spectrum in the 47–50 nm spectral region. To the best of our knowledge, for Bi+, this spectral region is rather unexplored and spectroscopic data are absent from the literature.

Keywords

• atomic ions
• photoionization
• dual-laser plasma technique