Spectrum and energy levels of the Yb4+ free ion (Yb V)

Abstract

The spectrum of ionized ytterbium produced by a sliding spark source was recorded on the 10 m high resolution vacuum ultraviolet normal-incidence spectrograph of the Meudon Observatory. About 1080 lines attributed to Yb V, hitherto unknown, have been identified. The analysis of this spectrum established all the energy levels of the ground configuration 4f12 and, respectively 174, 12 and 43 levels of the excited configurations 4f115d,4f116s and 4f116p. The theoretical calculations by means of the Cowan codes included a least-squares optimization of the relevant radial parameters by minimizing the differences between calculated and experimental level energies, which led to mean errors of 55 cm−1 for the 56 even parity levels and 51 cm−1 for the 186 odd parity ones. Interactions with the unknown core-excited configurations 5p54f13, 5p54f126p, 5p54f125d and 5p54f126s were taken into account.