Field ionization process of Eu 4f76snp Rydberg states**Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11004151 and 11174218).

Abstract

The field ionization process of the Eu 4f76snp Rydberg states, converging to the first ionization limit, 4f76s 9S4, is systematically investigated. The spectra of the Eu 4f76snp Rydberg states are populated with three-step laser excitation, and detected by electric field ionization (EFI) method. Two different kinds of the EFI pulses are applied after laser excitation to observe the possible impacts on the EFI process. The exact EFI ionization thresholds for the 4f76snp Rydberg states can be determined by observing the corresponding EFI spectra. In particular, some structures above the EFI threshold are found in the EFI spectra, which may be interpreted as the effect from black body radiation (BBR). Finally, the scaling law of the EFI threshold for the Eu 4f76snp Rydberg states with the effective quantum number is built.