Visible transitions in Ag-like and Cd-like lanthanide ions

TL;DR

This paper reports visible spectra of specific lanthanide ions, identifying key magnetic dipole transitions and validating theoretical calculations with experimental data, advancing understanding of their atomic structure.

Contribution

It provides the first experimental identification of visible M1 transitions in Ho, Er, and Tm lanthanide ions and compares these with advanced relativistic calculations.

Findings

Good agreement between experimental spectra and theoretical calculations.

Identification of prominent M1 transitions in Ag-like and Cd-like ions.

Spectroscopic data for Ho, Er, and Tm ions in the visible range.

Abstract

We present visible spectra of Ag-like ($4d^{10}4f$) and Cd-like ($4d^{10}4f^2$) ions of Ho (atomic number $Z=67$), Er (68), and Tm (69) observed with a compact electron beam ion trap. For Ag-like ions, prominent emission corresponding to the M1 transitions between the ground state fine structure splitting $4f_{5/2}$--$4f_{7/2}$ is identified. For Cd-like ions, several M1 transitions in the ground state configuration are identified. The transition wavelength and the transition probability are calculated with the relativistic many-body perturbation theory and the relativistic CI + all-order approach. Comparisons between the experiments and the calculations show good agreement.