Observation of indirect ionization of W7+ in an electron-beam ion-trap plasma

TL;DR

This study measures the spectra of W7+ ions in an electron-beam ion trap at low energies, revealing indirect ionization mechanisms involving metastable states, supported by detailed atomic structure calculations.

Contribution

It provides the first experimental observation of indirect ionization of W7+ ions at low electron energies, supported by advanced atomic structure modeling.

Findings

W7+ spectral lines observed at energies above the ionization potential of W4+

Evidence suggests W7+ ions are produced via indirect ionization from metastable states

Atomic structure calculations support the experimental observations

Abstract

In this work, visible and extreme ultraviolet spectra of W7+ are measured using the high-temperature superconducting electron-beam ion trap (EBIT) at the Shanghai EBIT Laboratory under extremely low-energy conditions (lower than the nominal electron-beam energy of 130 eV). The relevant atomic structure is calculated using the flexible atomic code package based on the relativistic configuration interaction method. The GRASP2K code, in the framework of the multiconfiguration Dirac-Hartree-Fock method, is employed as well for calculating the wavelength of the M1 transition in the ground configuration of W7+. A line from the W7+ ions is observed at a little higher electron-beam energy than the ionization potential for W4+, making this line appear to be from W5+. A hypothesis for the charge-state evolution of W7+ is proposed based on our experimental and theoretical results; that is, the occurrence of W7+ ions results from indirect ionization caused by stepwise excitation between some metastable states of lower-charge-state W ions, at the nominal electron-beam energy of 59 eV.