Recombination experiments at CRYRING

Recent advances in studies of electron-ion recombination processes at low relative energies with the electron cooler of the heavy-ion storage ring CRYRING are shown. Through the use of an adiabatically expanded electron beam, collisions down to 10^-4eV relative energies were measured with highly charged ions stored in the ring at around 15 MeV/amu energies. Examples of recombination measurements for bare ions of D⁺, He²⁺, N⁷⁺, Ne¹⁰⁺ and Si¹⁴⁺ are presented. Further on, results of an experiment measuring laser-induced recombination (LIR) into n=3 states of deuterium with polarized laser light are shown. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Recombination of lithium-like bismuth and uranium ions with free electrons at the ESR

In two separate experiments at the ESR recombination of 230 MeV/u Bi⁸⁰⁺ and 170 MeV/u U⁸⁹⁺ ions was studied. The analysis of these experiments has been carried on in order to extract information about radiative recombination (RR) of very highly charged ions exposed to electrons with a density of few 10⁶ cm^-3. In the light of the recombination rate enhancement seen in almost all recent experiments at a relative energy E_rel = 0 eV, a surprising result is found for the very highly charged ions, which could add some confusion to an already puzzling picture: in spite of the high charge state of the investigated ions there is no evidence of enhanced recombination beyond the expected RR rate. This observation appears to be supported by other experimental findings at the ESR as well. We suspect, however, that this is a consequence of excessive transverse magnetic field components in the ESR cooler (which have meanwhile been corrected for) causing variable degrees of angular mismatch between the ion beam and the electron beam occurring when the ring settings are tuned for optimum cooling. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The enhancement effect in K-shell radiative recombination of \mbox{\sffamily\bfseries U}^{\hbox{\sffamily\bfseries\fontsize{10}{12}\selectfont 92+}} ions with cooling electrons

We report the results of the x-ray radiative recombination (RR) experiment at the electron cooler of the ESR storage ring performed, for the first time, for detuned (off-cooling) electron energies. In this experiment the recombination of stored, decelerated bare uranium ions with electrons in the energy range 0–1000 meV was studied by observing K-RR x-ray photons emitted from direct radiative recombination to the lowest n=1 state. In this way the RR process was studied in a state selective manner for several off-cooling electron energies. The measured dependency of the recombination rate on the relative electron energies for K-shell RR x-ray photons are compared with the predictions of both nonrelativistic and fully relativistic calculations for the radiative recombination. A role of the relativistic effects, which contribute substantially for higher relative electron energies, are discussed. Strong enhancement of the recombination rate is observed for the the zero relative electron energy (cooling condition) for the K-shell.     

Enhancement of electron–ion recombination rates at low energy range in the heavy ion storage ring CSRm

Recombination of Ar¹⁴⁺, Ar¹⁵⁺, Ca¹⁶⁺, and Ni¹⁹⁺ ions with electrons has been investigated at low energy range based on the merged-beam method at the main cooler storage ring CSRm in the Institute of Modern Physics, Lanzhou,China. For each ion, the absolute recombination rate coefficients have been measured with electron–ion collision energies from 0 meV to 1000 meV which include the radiative recombination(RR) and also dielectronic recombination(DR)processes. In order to interpret the measured results, RR cross sections were obtained from a modified version of the semiclassical Bethe and Salpeter formula for hydrogenic ions. DR cross sections were calculated by a relativistic configuration interaction method using the flexible atomic code(FAC) and AUTOSTRUCTURE code in this energy range. The calculated RR + DR rate coefficients show a good agreement with the measured value at the collision energy above 100 meV.However, large discrepancies have been found at low energy range especially below 10 meV, and the experimental results show a strong enhancement relative to the theoretical RR rate coefficients. For the electron–ion collision energy below 1 meV, it was found that the experimentally observed recombination rates are higher than the theoretically predicted and fitted rates by a factor of 1.5 to 3.9. The strong dependence of RR rate coefficient enhancement on the charge state of the ions has been found with the scaling rule of q^3.0, reproducing the low-energy recombination enhancement effects found in other previous experiments.     

Laser spectroscopy with a cooler ring at the esr (GSI) and the TSR (MPI Heidelberg)

At the TSR cooler ring at Heidelberg, laser studies were carried out using singly charged lithium and beryllium ions. Laser spectroscopy of relativistic lithium ions (v=0.04c) yielded signals with a narrow linewidth, suitable for an experimental test of special relativity. A dramatic reduction of the beam temperature, as defined by the longitudinal velocity spread, was achieved via laser cooling in both cases. At the ion energies available at ESR it will become possible to prepare and store bare ions up to U⁹²⁺. Electron cooling was succesfully demonstrated for hydrogen-like Bi⁸²⁺ ions, where a laser experiment is scheduled to study the ground-state hyperfine splitting.     

Two-electron self-energy contribution to the ground-state energy of helium-like ions

The two-electron self-energy contribution to the ground-state energy of helium-like ions is calculated both for a point nucleus and an extended nucleus in a wide interval of Z. All the two-electron contributions are compiled to obtain most accurate values for the two-electron part of the ground-state energy of helium-like ions in the range Z = 20–100. The theoretical value of the ground-state energy of ²³⁸U⁹⁰⁺, based on currently available theory, is evaluated to be −261382.9(8) eV, without higher-order one-electron QED corrections.     

EBIT as a versatile experimental facility

The Electron Beam Ion Trap (EBIT) produces ions, confined within the electron beam, with charges ranging up to U⁹²⁺ at near rest energies. This allows to study the interaction of a monoenergetic electron beam with any trapped ion to a high degree of precision via X-ray spectroscopy. The development of the EBIT into an ion (trap) source enables the possibility to perform for the first time studies of the interaction dynamics in strong fields of ions with matter where the ions carry hundreds of keV potential energy at very low kinetic energies (eV).     

Intensity enhancement of the C5+ Balmer radiation excited by capillary discharge pumping

The intensity of the 18.2 nm Balmer α-transition in C⁵⁺ excited in a capillary discharge using alumina and polyacetal tubes was studied. For discharge currents of up to 80 kA in tubes filled with C₂H₂, intense radiation from the excitation of C⁵⁺ ions and from the recombination of C⁶⁺ ions was observed. With increasing length of the discharge, the intensity in the falling edge of the recombination pulse rises faster than proportional. In contrast to previous investigations, gain by stimulated emission is excluded. The enhancement is ascribed to an optical guiding of the XUV radiation in the dense plasma created by ablation from the tube walls. Received: 1 April 1999 / Revised version: 22 July 1999 / Published online: 30 November 1999     

Recombination measurements at low energies with Ar16+ and Ar18+ ions in a dense, cold electron target

Recombination of multiply charged ions with electrons at very low relative energies has become a major topic of interest, due to the observation of rates which are enhanced beyond the expectations for radiative recombination. We present results for Ar¹⁶⁺ and Ar¹⁸⁺ ions from systematic measurements along the argon isonuclear sequence using a high density cold electron beam target (n_e = 7 × 10⁹ cm^-3) at the UNILAC of GSI. The transverse and longitudinal temperatures of the electron beam were determined from DR resonance features observed with metastable Ar¹⁶⁺ (2³S) ions. The rate at E_rel = 0 for radiative recombination of completely stripped Ar¹⁸⁺ calculated with electron beam temperatures kT_∥ = 0.002 eV, kT_⊥ = 0.2 eV amounts to α = 10^-9 cm³ s^-1. This is exceeded by nearly a factor of 10 by the rate measured in experiments with Ar¹⁸⁺ ions. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Density dependence of recombination in the electron cooler of CRYRING

The electron-ion recombination rates of Ne¹⁰⁺ and D⁺ have been measured as a function of relative energy and electron density. We found a strong enhancement of e-Ne¹⁰⁺ recombination over expected radiative recombination rates below 1 meV relative energies, reaching a factor of 4 close to zero relative energy. Remarkably, the measured rate coefficients decrease as a function of electron density for both systems. Studies of recombination of D⁺ indicate that this density dependence may be due to temperature variations of the electron beam with the electron density.     

Low-Energy Rate Enhancement in Recombination Processes of Electrons into Bare Uranium Ions

Based on the Dirac-Fork-Slater method combined with the multichannel quantum defect theory, the recombination processes of electrons into bare uranium ions （U92＋） are investigated in the relative energy range close to zero, and the x-ray spectrum emitted in the direct radiative recombination and cascades processes are simulated. Compared with the recent measurement, it is found that the rate enhancement comes from the additional populations on high Rydberg states. These additional populations may be produced by other recombination mechanisms, such as the external electric-magnetic effects and the many-body correlation effects, which still remains an open problem.     

Effects of solvation on dissociative electron attachment to methyl iodide clusters

Using laser photoelectron attachment to methyl iodide clusters in a differentially-pumped seeded supersonic helium beam and mass spectrometric ion detection, we have measured the rate coefficients for formation of (q = 0-2) ions over the electron energy range 0-100 meV with an effective energy width of about 2.5 meV. Whereas a prominent vibrational Feshbach resonance just below the onset for the C-I stretch vibration ( ) is observed for dissociative attachment to monomers (yielding I^- ions), only weak and broad structure, shifted to lower energies, is detected for formation of ions and essentially no structure is left in the attachment spectrum for . These observations are interpreted by model R-matrix calculations which successfully describe the DA cross-section for the monomer and qualitatively recover the trend observed for cluster ion formation. For the clusters, the effects of increased electron-target long-range interaction and of solvation as well as coupling to soft vibrational modes lead to strong broadening and shifting of the vibrational Feshbach resonance and, ultimately, to its disappearance. Received 29 November 1999 and Received in final form 14 January 2000     

Recombination of electrons with highly charged heavy ions at very low energies

Recombination of highly charged ions with free electrons is studied in merged-beams experiments at the UNILAC accelerator in Darmstadt and at the heavy-ion storage ring TSR in Heidelberg. Unexpected high recombination rates are observed for a number of ions at very low energiesE _cm in the electron-ion center-of-mass frame. In particular, theoretical estimates for radiative recombination are dramatically exceeded by the experimental recombination rates of U²⁸⁺ ions nearE _cm=0 eV. The observations point to a general phenomenon in electron ion recombination depending onE _cm, on the ion charge state, and possibly also on electron density, electron beam temperature, and strength of external magnetic fields.     

Dielectronic Recombination of Sn^10＋ Ions and Related Satellite Spectra

Based on the multi-configuration Dirac-Fock method, theoretical calculations are carried out for the dielectronic recombination （DR） rate coefficients and the collision excitation rate coefficients of Sn^10＋ ions. It is found that the total DR rate coefficient has its maximum value between 10eV and 100eV and is greater than either the radiative recombination or three-body recombination rate coefficients （the number of free electrons per unit is 10^21 cm^3） for the ease of Te 〉 1 eV. Therefore, DR can strongly influence the ionization balance of laser produced multi-charged tin ions. The related dieleetronie satellite cannot be ignored at low temperature Te 〈 5 eV.     

Recombination measurements at low energies with Au49+,50+,51+ at the TSR

Recombination of Au⁴⁹⁺, Au⁵⁰⁺, and Au⁵¹⁺ ions has been studied at the TSR. With Au⁵⁰⁺ ions a storage lifetime of only 2 to 4 s was observed with the magnetically expanded electron beam of the cooler at a density of n_e = 10⁷ cm^-3. This short storage time is a consequence of the highest recombination rate coefficient ever observed with an atomic ion (1.8·10^-6 cm³ s^-1 at zero relative energy E_rel = 0 between electrons and ions). At about 30 meV a huge dielectronic recombination resonance is found with a record small width of only about 15 meV. Such resonances fortuitously occurring near E_rel=0 are probably the main reason for the enhanced recombination rates observed with Au⁵⁰⁺, with Pb⁵³⁺ (in a recent experiment at LEAR) as well as with other complex ions. For Au⁴⁹⁺ and Au⁵¹⁺ the recombination rates are smaller by an order of magnitude. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Differential L-shell radiative recombination rate coefficients for bare uranium ions interacting with low-energy electrons

Results of the calculations of differential L?shell radiative recombination (RR) rate coefficients for bare uranium ions colliding with free electrons using the nonrelativistic dipole approximation and fully relativistic calculations are reported. The rate coefficients were obtained for very low, in the range of meV, relative electron-ion energies. We demonstrate that even for such low relative ion-electron energies the relativistic effects significantly modify the differential RR rate coefficients for the L?subshells and, as a result, the measurements of the relative electron energy dependence of the L-RR rates could be used for studying of the relativistic effects. These effects are strongest for the L ₃-subshell, which is discussed here in more details.     

Fabrication and device characterization of potassium fluoride solution treated CZTSSe solar cell

Post deposition treatment (PDT) for Cu₂ZnSn(S,Se)₄ (CZTSSe) was carried out by simply dipping the absorber into the KF solution at 80 °C. The dipping time of absorber in KF solution was found to be crucial to device parameters of CZTSSe solar cell. The K-doping improved the solar cell efficiency from 4.4% to 7.6% by 1 min dipping whereas the longer than 5 min dipping solar cells showed distorted kink J-V curves. The activation energy of CZTSSe solar cell was increased upto 1 min KF treatment from 0.83 eV to 0.92 eV which indicates interface recombination is reduced significantly. However, the activation energies of 5 min and 10 min dipping solar cells were found to be 0.81 eV and 0.63 eV where dominant recombination was interface recombination. Furthermore, trap energies of 49 meV and 298 meV of pristine CZTSSe solar cell were modified to 33 meV and 117 meV for 1 min treated CZTSSe solar cell. Trap energies of 5 min were calculated to be 112 meV and 147 meV. The proper KF doping passivated the shallow as well as deep defects of CZTSSe solar cell which is reflected in photovoltaic performances directly.     

Ionization of iridium ions in the Dresden EBIT studied by X-ray spectroscopy of direct excitation and radiative recombination processes

Ir^q+ ( 41≤q≤64) ions with open-shell configurations have been produced in the electron beam of the room-temperature Dresden Electron Beam Ion Trap (Dresden EBIT) at electron excitation energies from 2 keV to 13 keV. X-ray emission from direct excitation processes and radiative capture in krypton-like to aluminium-like iridium ions is measured with an energy dispersive Si(Li) detector. The detected X-ray lines are analyzed and compared with results from multiconfigurational Dirac-Fock (MCDF) atomic structure calculations. This allows to determine dominant produced ion charge states at different electron energies. The analysis shows that at the realized working gas pressure of 5×10^-9mbar for higher charged ions the maximum ion charge state is not preferently determined by the chosen electron beam energy needed for ionization of certain atomic substates, but by the balance between ionization and charge state reducing processes as charge exchange and radiative recombination. This behaviour is also discussed on the basis of model calculations for the resulting ion charge state distribution. Received 12 July 2001 and Received in final form 10 September 2001     

Radiative and interelectronic-interaction corrections to the hyperfine splitting in highly charged B-like ions

The ground-state hyperfine splitting values of high-Z boronlike ions are calculated. Calculation of the interelectronic-interaction contribution is based on a combination of the 1/Z perturbation theory and the large-scale configuration-interaction Dirac-Fock-Sturm method. The screened QED corrections are evaluated utilizing an effective screening potential approach. Total hyperfine splitting energies are presented for several B-like ions of particular interest: ⁴⁵Sc¹⁶⁺, ⁵⁷Fe²¹⁺, ²⁰⁷Pb⁷⁷⁺, and ²⁰⁹Bi⁷⁸⁺. For lead and bismuth the experimental values of the 1s hyperfine splitting are employed to improve significantly the theoretical results by reducing the uncertainty due to the nuclear effects.     

Dielectronic recombination at low energy range with Boron-like Ar13+at the CSRm

In order to extend the dielectronic recombination (DR) experiments from the main cooler storage ring CSRm with intermediate charge state ions to the experimental cooler storage ring CSRe with highly charged ions and even radioactive ions, a test electron-ion recombination experiment of B-like Ar¹³⁺ ions was performed with a section of the new electron beam energy detuning system, which will be installed at the CSRe. We present the measured and also the calculated DR spectra for the ∆n = 0 resonances from 0 to 3 eV. The experimental results agree very well with the previous DR experimental data from CRYRING, and the energy resolution reached 30 meV full width at half maximum. This test experiment demonstrates that the reliability and stability of the newly developed electron beam energy detuning system are satisfactory for the upcoming DR experiments at the CSRe. However, we found large discrepancies between the experimental result and the calculation in both resonance positions and the intensities of the recombination spectrum below 0.7 eV, which indicate that precise calculation of the DR spectrum of multielectron ions is still a challenge.