Single electron loss by fast ions in helium

The single electron loss cross sections for fast B, N, and Ne ions colliding with He atoms are calculated. In the calculation of the ionization amplitude, the He nucleus screening is taken into account by both the sum rule and the summation over a finite number of excited 1snl (n < 5, l < 2) states and states of the continuous spectrum. The calculated results agree satisfactorily with experimental data.     

Scattering of Light Exotic Atoms in Excited States

The scattering of light exotic atoms in excited states (n = 2–5) from hydrogen has been calculated in a close-coupling model. For the first time, the absorption cross sections for hadronic atoms due to Stark collisions have been calculated by taking the shifts and widths of the nS states into account in a self-consistent quantum mechanical framework. A classical-trajectory Monte Carlo method has been used to calculate the scattering of exotic atoms from molecular hydrogen for n≥8. The Coulomb transitions with Δn>1 are found to be the dominant deexcitation mechanism at the initial stage of the cascade.     

Electronic states in solids investigated by means of synchrotron radiation

Recent progress is reviewed in the investigation of deep valence and core states in solids by means of continuous and intense vacuum ultraviolet radiation from electron synchrotons and storage rings. The basic theoretical concepts involved in the interpretation of spectroscopic data for the range from the ultraviolet to the X-ray region are outlined and a short account is given of the experimental aspects of work with synchrotron radiation. In addition to optical reflectivity and absorption measurements the advantages are pointed out of investigating photoelectric yield, energy distributions of photoemitted electrons and luminescence excitation spectra with a tunable light source. A selection of more recent experimental results is given in order to illustrate the following topics concerned with the electronic structure of solids: band structure effects, localized excitations such as excitons, decay processes of elementary excitations, unoccupied surface states, surface excitons and electronic states of adsorbates, and many-body effects. The common origin and close correspondence of many features of inner-shell absorption spectra from atoms, molecules and solids is pointed out.     

Possibility of lasing in the visible band by molecule photodissociation

The lower excited states of certain diatomic radicals and atoms, transitions from which to the ground state lie in the visible and in the near ultraviolet regions of the spectrum, are analyzed. Possible mechanisms of inversion via photodissociation of the molecules by radiation from a source with a continuous spectrum, having a brightness temperature T ? 3·10⁴ °K, are considered.     

Photoinduced light absorption by C60 films in the 0.08–4.0-eV spectral range

Spectra of photoinduced light absorption in C₆₀ films at high and low excitations in the temperature range between 15 and 300 K have been measured. In addition to the well-known explanation of photoinduced absorption in terms of optical transitions in the system of photogenerated singlet excitons, triplet excitons, and polarons, changes in the absorption spectrum of the fullerite ground state must be considered. We suggest taking into account the effect of crystal field in explaining the features of the photoinduced absorption spectrum. A feature similar to the inverted luminescence spectrum and ascribed to optical excitation of singlet excitons, which is partially allowed owing to intermolecular interaction, has been detected in spectrum of photoinduced absorption. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 112, 246–256 (July 1997)     

State-filling and magneto-photoluminescence of excited states in InGaAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots

We present the first radiative lifetime measurements and magneto-photoluminescence results of excited states in InGaAs/GaAs semiconductor self-assembled quantum dots. By increasing the photo-excitation intensity, excited state interband transitions up ton= 5 can be observed in the emission spectrum. The dynamics of the interband transitions and the inter-sublevel relaxation in these zero-dimensional energy levels lead to state-filling of the lower-energy states, allowing the quasi-Fermi level to be raised by more than 200 meV due to the combined large inter-sublevel spacing and the low density of states. The decay time of each energy level obtained under various excitation conditions is used to evaluate the inter-sublevel thermalization time. Finally, the emission spectrum of the dots filled with an average of about eight excitons is measured in magnetic fields up to 13 Tesla. The dependences of the spectrum as a function of carrier density and magnetic field are compared to calculations and interpreted in terms of coherent many-exciton states and their destruction by the magnetic field.     

The excited states of an intersubband exciton

The energy of intersubband collective spin-and charge-density excitations is calculated for a system of quasi-two-dimensional electrons at certain values of the angular-momentum component perpendicular to the plane of the electron free motion. The calculation is carried out within the Hartree-Fock approximation. It is shown that the excited states correspond to the electron transitions in the vicinity of the Fermi momentum. The dispersion of the collective excitations is considered.     

Theoretical description of the spectroscopic properties of rare earth ions in crystals

In this article the present state of knowledge of the theory of one- and two-photon processes observed in rare earth ions in crystals is presented. The conclusions are based on the results of ab initio calculations performed for various ions across the lanthanide series. The model applied for the calculations is based on the Rayleigh–Schrödinger perturbation theory, and the amplitude of a certain electric dipole transition is expressed in terms of effective operators. The radial integrals of the effective operators are defined by the perturbed functions that contain the perturbing influence of single excitations from the 4f shell to all one-electron states of a given symmetry, discrete and continuum. In this approach the interactions between the 4f^N and the excited configurations via the crystal field potential, the electron correlation operator and the spin–orbit interaction operator are discussed; it is believed that the presented theory contains the most important physical mechanisms responsible for the f↔f electric dipole transitions. Two alternative formulations of the theory of one-photon electric dipole transitions are presented. Consequently, the transition amplitude is defined within the standard theory based on the length formula and within a new approach which is based on the velocity form of the electric dipole radiation operator.     

Doppler-free optogalvanic spectroscopy using an infrared color center laser

We have used a cw color center laser near 2.6 μm to study highly excited states in helium and neon atoms by Doppler- free intermodulated optogalvanic spectroscopy in a hollow cathode discharge tube. For helium n = 4 to 6 transitions, the resolution was limited to about 320 MHz (FWHM) by Holtzmark broadening due to the presence of charged particles in the discharge. Lines as narrow as 60 MHz were observed for neon 3s₅-5p₁₀.     

Interpretation of the electronic spectra of phthalocyanines with transition metals from quantum-chemical calculations by the density functional method

Using the time-dependent formalism of the density functional theory (time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT)), the energies and intensities of the electronic transitions of some metal phthalocyanines of transition metals and of their anionic forms with different electron localization are studied quantum chemically. It is shown that, in all the cases studied, calculations using the B3LYP functional with even a comparatively narrow basis set (6–31G) are quite consistent with the previous calculations of the same objects by the ZINDO/S-CI semiempirical method taking into account double excitations. For a number of particular examples, it is shown that a lack of consideration of doubly excited configurations in the calculation of excited states by the TDDFT method can be compensated by the contribution from single excitations, which proves to be more significant due to the presence of the correlation component of the exchange-correlation functional.     

Influence of excited configurations on the intensities of electric-dipole transitions of rare-earth ions

The theory of induced electric-dipole transitions of rare-earth ions in crystals and glasses is improved by taking into account the third-order effects of perturbation theory with respect to the energies of virtual excitations of 4f electrons to the 5d states. Since the energy regions of excited 4f ^{N ? 1}5d states are usually superimposed with the charge-transfer bands, the effects caused by a virtual transfer of an electron from the outer shells of ions of the surroundings (ligands) to the unfilled 4f ^N shells are also considered. The Pr³⁺, Sm³⁺, and Eu³⁺ ions are considered as examples. It is found that some difficulties inherent in the Judd-Ofelt calculation scheme are successfully overcome. The agreement of the calculated results with the experimental data improves.     

Changes in quantum states of atoms in a markovian thermostat

We solve the nonlinear Schrödinger equation, taking into account self-interaction through the surrounding medium. We have found that such atoms have a countable set of stable equilibrium states, coinciding with the wave eigenfunctions of an individual atom. We show that transitions of an atom from equilibrium quantum states corresponding to less excited levels to more excited levels occur in jumps, while transitions from equilibrium states corresponding to upper levels to lower levels may occur either as radiationless transitions or be accompanied by spontaneous emission at the eigenfrequency of the quantum transition. We have found the conditions for which a change in the topological structure of the atomic wavefunction is possible.     

Far-infrared magneto-absorption of donor-bound excitons in germanium: Pseudo-acceptor model

The magneto-oscillatory absorption spectrum of the arsenic-bound excitons in germanium observed at 118.6 μm reveals a series of absorption lines similar to the Zeeman spectrum of the acceptor impurity. This fact indicates that the bound excitons have the excited states associated with the light-hole Landau ladders and these excited states can be described by the model of a hole bound to the D^- state, i.e. the pseudo-acceptor model. The hole binding energy of the ground state of the bound excitons has been obtained to be 4.7 meV, which is smaller compared with the binding energy of the acceptor impurity.     

Transfer of a weakly bound electron in collisions of Rydberg atoms with neutral particles. II. Ion-pair formation and resonant quenching of the Rb(nl) and Ne(nl) States by Ca, Sr, and Ba atoms

Electron-transfer processes are studied in thermal collisions of Rydberg atoms with alkaline-earth Ca(4s ²), Sr(5s ²), and Ba(6s ²) atoms capable of forming negative ions with a weakly bound outermost p-electron. We consider the ion-pair formation and resonant quenching of highly excited atomic states caused by transitions between Rydberg covalent and ionic terms of a quasi-molecule produced in collisions of particles. The contributions of these reaction channels to the total depopulation cross section of Rydberg states of Rb(nl) and Ne(nl) atoms as functions of the principal quantum number n are compared for selectively excited nl-levels with l ? n and for states with large orbital quantum numbers l = n ? 1, n ? 2. It is shown that the contribution from resonant quenching dominates at small values of n, and the ion-pair formation process begins to dominate with increasing n. The values and positions of the maxima of cross sections for both processes strongly depend on the electron affinity of an alkaline-earth atom and on the orbital angular momentum l of a highly excited atom. It is shown that in the case of Rydberg atoms in states with large l ～ n ? 1, the rate constants of ion-pair formation and collisional quenching are considerably lower than those for nl-levels with l ? n.     

Effect of a Coulomb well in (In,Ga)As/GaAs quantum wells

Magnetooptical investigation of exciton transitions in high-quality quantum wells of an (In, Ga)As/GaAs heterosystem has been carried out. Investigation of transmission of free-hanging samples detached from the substrate in the magnetic fields of up to 12 T revealed a rich fine structure associated with various heavy-hole and light-hole exciton transitions. In particular, transitions from the excited states of light holes localized in a Coulomb potential produced by an electron along the heterojunction axis (a Coulomb well) have been detected. Taking into account consistently stresses, formation of Landau levels, the binding energies of excitons (diamagnetic excitons), and the effect of a Coulomb well, we have succeeded to describe the experimental results with the use of a self-consistent variational procedure. As a result, new features in the structure of optical transitions have been explained and the effective masses of electrons and holes of excitons formed by both heavy and light holes have been determined with a high accuracy.     

Inclusion of core-unfreezing effects and orthogonality conditions in calculations of excited atomic states

The 1s2s¹S term of two-electron ions is used as an example to show that taking account of the relaxation of the atomic core under the excitation of an electron by going over to a frozen-in ion core is particularly effective if the one-electron functions cease to be orthogonal inside the excited configuration but the complete wave functions of the ground and excited states satisfy the orthogonality conditions.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 11, pp. 104–109.