New approaches to negative ions: resonant ionization spectroscopy and storage rings

Abstract

The recent progress obtained in the study of the structure and dynamics of weakly bound, negative ions, utilizing either laser photodetachment combined with resonant ionization spectroscopy or storage-ring technique is described with examples from the alkaline-earth negative ions Be−, Ca−, Sr− and Ba−. The examples cover binding energies of stable and metastable states, fine-structure splittings, and lifetimes of metastable ions.