Dramatic structure in the photodetachment of inner shells of negative ions: Li-

Deep inner-shell photodetachment of negative ions is shown to differ qualitatively and quantitatively from the corresponding process in neutral atoms and positive ions. As an example, calculations of the photodetachment of Li- out of the 1s shell, using an augmented R-matrix methodology, are presented and show numerous structures over a broad energy region including a new phenomenon: Auger decay of a shape resonance. Li- was selected because it is the simplest multishell negative ion and is amenable to experimental scrutiny.

Double ionization of atomic negative ions in an intense laser field

In recent years there have been many studies of multiple ionization of closed shell rare gas atoms by intense laser fields. Until now no similar work has been done in the study of more diverse targets such as negative ions where low binding energies and strong electron correlations could yield distinctive behaviour. We present the first results of ionization of more than one electron from a range of atomic negative ions by intense laser pulses. Although these pulses are long by modern standards, and tend to produce sequential ionization in atoms, the positive ion yields from the negative ions do not depend predictably on the ionization potentials. This suggests that there may, intriguingly, be an alternative mechanism enhancing double ionization at low intensities.

Radiative lifetimes of metastable states of negative ions

We present a technique for measuring the radiative lifetimes of metastable states of negative ions that involves the use of a heavy-ion storage ring. The method has been applied to investigate the radiative decay of the np3 2P1/2 levels of Te–(n=5) and Se–(n=4) and the 3p3 2D state of Si– for which the J=3/2 and 5/2 levels were unresolved. All of these states are metastable and decay primarily by emission of E2 and M1 radiation. Multi Configuration Dirac-Hartree-Fock calculations of rates for the transitions in Te– and Se– yielded lifetimes of 0.45 s and 4.7 s, respectively. The measured values agree well with these predicted values. In the case of the 2D state of Si–, however, our measurement was only able to set a lower limit on the lifetime. The upper limit of the lifetime that can be measured with our apparatus is set by how long the ions can be stored in the ring, a limit determined by the rate of collisional detachment. Our lower limit of 1 min for the lifetime of the 2D state is consistent with both the calculated lifetimes of 162 s for the 2D3/2 level and 27.3 h for the 2D5/2 level reported by O'Malley and Beck and 14.5 h and 12.5 h, respectively, from our Breit-Pauli calculations.

Electron attachment to SF(6) and lifetimes of SF(6)(-) negative ions

We study the process of low-energy electron capture by the SF(6) molecule. Our approach is based on the model of Gauyacq and Herzenberg [J. P. Gauyacq and A. Herzenberg, J. Phys. B 17, 1155 (1984)] in which the electron motion is coupled to the fully symmetric vibrational mode through a weakly bound or virtual s state. By tuning the two free parameters of the model, we achieve an accurate description of the measured electron attachment cross section and good agreement with vibrational excitation cross sections of the fully symmetric mode. An extension of the model provides a limit on the characteristic time of intramolecular vibrational relaxation in highly excited SF(6)(-). By evaluating the total vibrational spectrum density of SF(6)(-), we estimate the widths of the vibrational Feshbach resonances of the long-lived negative ion. We also analyze the possible distribution of the widths and its effect on the lifetime measurements, and investigate nonexponential decay features in metastable SF(6)(-).

Many-body theory calculations of positron binding to negative ions

A many-body theory approach developed by the authors [Phys. Rev. A 70, 032720 (2004)] is applied to positron bound states and annihilation rates in atomic systems. Within the formalism, full account of virtual positronium (Ps) formation is made by summing the electron-positron ladder diagram series, thus enabling the theory to include all important many-body correlation effects in the positron problem. Numerical calculations have been performed for positron bound states with the hydrogen and halogen negative ions, also known as Ps hydride and Ps halides. The Ps binding energies of 1.118, 2.718, 2.245, 1.873 and 1.393 eV and annihilation rates of 2.544, 2.482, 1.984, 1.913 and 1.809 ns^{-1}, have been obtained for PsH, PsF, PsCl, PsBr and PsI, respectively.

Electron detachment from negative ions in a short laser pulse

We present an efficient and accurate method to study electron detachment from negative ions by a few-cycle linearly polarized laser pulse. The adiabatic saddle-point method of Gribakin and Kuchiev [Phys. Rev. A 55, 3760 (1997)] is adapted to calculate the transition amplitude for a short laser pulse. Its application to a pulse with N optical cycles produces 2(N + 1) saddle points in complex time, which form a characteristic "smile." Numerical calculations are performed for H(-) in a 5-cycle pulse with frequency 0.0043 a.u. and intensities of 10(10), 5 x 10(10), and 10(11) W/cm(2), and for various carrier-envelope phases. We determine the spectrum of the photoelectrons as a function of both energy and emission angle, as well as the angle-integrated energy spectra and total detachment probabilities. Our calculations show that the dominant contribution to the transition amplitude is given by 5-6 central saddle points, which correspond to the strongest part of the pulse. We examine the dependence of the photoelectron angular distributions on the carrier-envelope phase and show that measuring such distributions can provide a way of determining this phase.

ENHANCED VOLUME PRODUCTION OF NEGATIVE-IONS IN THE POST DISCHARGE OF A MULTICUSP HYDROGEN DISCHARGE

In this paper we demonstrate a new concept in the production of negative hydrogen ions in a low-pressure multicusp discharge. The discharge voltage is modulated to produce a non-Maxwellian, hot-electron plasma during the current pulse, followed by a cool Maxwellian electron plasma in the post discharge. This procedure, of separating in time the required hot and cold electron plasmas required for volume H- production, is called a temporal filter. The time evolution of the electron energy distribution function is measured using the time-resolved second derivative of a Langmuir probe characteristic. Time-resolved measurements of the negative ion density are made using laser photodetachment. The measurements show that the negative ion density in the center of the source, at a gas pressure of 0.07 Pa, increases by a factor of 2 when the discharge is switched off. At this low pressure the average H- beam current extracted from the source, when operated with a discharge current of 1 A in the pulse modulated mode exceeds the H- beam current from a 5 A continuously operated source. The increase in efficiency of the pulsed source is explained in terms of a two-step H- production mechanism.

Thomson spectrometer-microchannel plate assembly calibration for MeV-range positive and negative ions, and neutral atoms

We report on the absolute calibration of a microchannel plate (MCP) detector, used in conjunction with a Thomson parabola spectrometer. The calibration delivers the relation between a registered count numbers in the CCD camera (on which the MCP phosphor screen is imaged) and the number of ions incident on MCP. The particle response of the MCP is evaluated for positive, negative, and neutral particles at energies below 1 MeV. As the response of MCP depends on the energy and the species of the ions, the calibration is fundamental for the correct interpretation of the experimental results. The calibration method and arrangement exploits the unique emission symmetry of a specific source of fast ions and atoms driven by a high power laser.

Freak waves and modulational dynamics in plasmas with negative ions

The nonlinear dynamics of modulated electrostatic wavepackets propagating in negativeion plasmas is investigated from first principles. A nonlinear Schrödinger equation is derived by adopting a multiscale technique. The stability of breather- like (bright envelope soliton) structures, considered as a precursor to freak wave (rogue wave) formation, is investigated and then tested via numerical simulations.

Charge steering of laser plasma accelerated fast ions in a liquid spray - Creation of MeV negative ion and neutral atom beams

The scenario of electron capture and loss has been recently proposed for the formation of negative ion and neutral atom beams with up to MeV kinetic energy [S. Ter-Avetisyan, Appl. Phys. Lett. 99, 051501 (2011)]. Validation of these processes and of their generic nature is here provided in experiments where the ion source and the interaction medium have been spatially separated. Fast positive ions accelerated from a laser plasma source are sent through a cold spray where their charge is changed. Such formed neutral atom or negative ion has nearly the same momentum as the original positive ion. Experiments are released for protons, carbon, and oxygen ions and corresponding beams of negative ions and neutral atoms have been obtained. The electron capture and loss phenomenon is confirmed to be the origin of the negative ion and neutral atom beams. The equilibrium ratios of different charge components and cross sections have been measured. Our method is general and allows the creation of beams of neutral atoms and negative ions for different species which inherit the characteristics of the positive ion source.

Evidence for rescattering in intense, femtosecond laser interactions with a negative ion

It is now well established that energetic electron emission, nonsequential ionization, and high harmonic generation, produced during the interaction of intense, femtosecond laser pulses with atoms (and atomic positive ions), can be explained by invoking rescattering of the active electron in the laser field, the so-called rescattering mechanism. In contrast for negative ions, the role of rescattering has not been established experimentally. By irradiating F- ions with ultrashort laser pulses, F+ ion yields as a function of intensity for both linearly and circularly polarized light have been measured. We find that, at intensities well below saturation for F+ production by sequential ionization, there is a small but significant enhancement in the yield for the case of linearly polarized light, providing the first clear experimental evidence for the existence of the rescattering mechanism in negative ions.