Experimental study of Rydberg states excited from the d shell of atomic bromine and iodine.

Abstract

Iodine and bromine atoms produced by the laser-induced dissociation of, respectively, molecular iodine and bromine have been photoexcited in the region of the 4d\ensuremath{\rightarrow}np (ng5) and 3d\ensuremath{\rightarrow}np (ng4) excitations. Total ion-yield spectra show numerous lines whose positions and extensions are attributed to open-shell effects. The decay of the 4d\ensuremath{\rightarrow}6p transition in atomic iodine has been investigated. The relaxation of this resonance is dominated by resonant Auger processes accompanied by strong shake processes. The comparison with the decay of the 4d\ensuremath{\rightarrow}5p resonances in atomic iodine and with the 4d\ensuremath{\rightarrow}6p resonances in xenon shows a strong sensitivity of the decay mechanisms of inner-shell resonances to the nature of the orbital into which the core electron has been promoted.