Beam-foil spectroscopy of oxygen in the wavelength region from 270 to 490 Å

Abstract

We have used the beam-foil technique to study the spectrum of oxygen between 270 and 490 Å. We have measured the mean lives of the 3d2F, 3d4P, 3d4D, 3d′ 2D, 3d′ 2F, 4d4P, and 4d4D terms of O II, the 3s1P0, 3s3P0, 3S5P, 3s′ 3D, 3d3P, 3d3D, 3d3F, and 3d5P terms of O III, and the 3S2S, 3P2P0, and 3s4P0 terms of O IV. All cascade components are adequately explained. Good agreement is found with previous measurements in most cases, but significant discrepancies are found with some earlier results obtained using branches above 2000 Å. Generally satisfactory agreement is also found with theoretical predictions, although disagreement is found for several members of the 2p3–2p23d array in O II f-Values are computed for 18 individual lines, and compared with other experimental and theoretical results. Finally, we discuss briefly the f-value trends along the 2p23P–2p3s3P0 (O III), 2p21D–2p3s1P0 (O III), 2s2p24P–2s2p(3P0)3s4P0 (O IV), and 2p2P0–3s2S (O IV) isoelectronic sequences.