A HIGH-RESOLUTION PHOTOIONIZATION AND PHOTOELECTRON STUDY OF 58Ni USING A VACUUM ULTRAVIOLET LASER

In order to provide high-resolution spectroscopic data of nickel (58Ni) and its cation (58Ni+) for the assignment of vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) stellar spectra, we have obtained the photoionization efficiency (PIE) spectra of 58Ni by using a supersonically cooled laser ablation transition-metal beam source and a broadly tunable VUV laser in the range of 61,100-73,600 cm–1, covering the photoionization transitions: Ni+ (3d92 D) <- Ni (3d84s23 D), Ni+(3d92 D) <- Ni(3d84s23 F), and Ni+ (3d84s4 F) <- Ni(3d84s23 F). We have also measured the VUV laser pulsed-field-ionization-photoelectron (PFI-PE) spectra of 58Ni in these regions. The VUV-PFI-PE measurement has allowed the determination of a precise value of 61,619.89 ± 0.8 cm–1 (7.6399 ± 0.0001 eV) for the ionization energy (IE) of 58Ni. Due to the narrow VUV laser optical bandwidth of 0.4 cm–1 used in the present study, many complex autoionizing resonances exhibiting Fano line shape profiles are resolved in the PIE spectra. Four autoionizing Rydberg series originating from two-electron and one-electron excitations from the Ni(3d84s23 F4) ground state to converge to the respective Ni+(2 D3/2) and Ni+(4 FJ ) (J = 9/2, 7/2, and 5/2) ion states are identified. The Rydberg analysis, along with VUV-PFI-PE measurements, has yielded highly precise IE values for the formation of these excited ionic states from the Ni(3d84s23 F4) ground state. The IE values, relative photoionization cross sections, and autoionizing Rydberg resonances observed in the present study are relevant to astrophysics by enhancing the atomic database of iron group transition metal atoms and for understanding the Ni and Ni+ contribution to the VUV opacity in the solar atmosphere.