EXAMINING THE LOW ENERGY STATES OF NDO+ USING TWO-PHOTON IONIZATION

Persinger, Thomas D.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/104380 Copy

Description

Title

EXAMINING THE LOW ENERGY STATES OF NDO+ USING TWO-PHOTON IONIZATION

Author(s)

Persinger, Thomas D.

Contributor(s)

Heaven, Michael ; VanGundy, Robert A.

Issue Date

2019-06-19

Keyword(s)

Metal containing

Abstract

The auto-ionization reaction Nd + O $\rightarrow$ NdO$^{+}$ + e$^{-}$ has been explored as a possible means for controlled modulation of the electron density in the thermosphere. High-altitude Nd release experiments have been conducted using sounding rockets, but the degree of ionization achieved was uncertain. The ionization energy (IE) of NdO is a key parameter for determination of the electron yield from the auto-ionization reaction, and the value available from the literature was of questionable accuracy. Resonantly enhanced two photon ionization (R2PI) was used to remeasure the IE. The value obtained, 5.5083(2) eV, was 0.54 eV higher than previous estimates. Combined with estimates of the NdO$^{+}$ bond dissociation energy, our result indicates that the auto-ionization reaction is exothermic by 1.76(10) eV. Low energy states of NdO$^{+}$ were examined using pulsed-field ionization zero kinetic energy photoelectron spectroscopy (PFI-ZEKE). A total of thirty vibronic levels arising from eight electronic states of NdO$^{+}$ were observed. The pattern of electronic states indicates that the lowest energy electronic configuration is Nd$^{3+}$(4f3)O$^{2-}$, which agrees with electronic structure calculations and ligand field theory models.

Publisher

International Symposium on Molecular Spectroscopy

Type of Resource

text

Language

English

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/104380

DOI

10.15278/isms.2019.WJ03

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2019 Thomas D. Persinger

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