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Physical Review A

Photodetachment of H− in an electric field

M. L. Du, J. B. Delos

Published Dec 1, 1988• 177 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A simple analytic formula for the photodetachment cross section of ${\mathrm{H}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}}$ in an electric field is derived. The formula becomes identical to a formula derived many years ago in the vanishing-field limit. Three special features appear in the cross section in the presence of an electric field: a quantum tunneling effect, a new threshold law, and oscillations. These appear when the photon energy is, respectively, less than, equal to, or greater than the binding energy of ${\mathrm{H}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}}$. Enough information is provided in this paper so that one can calculate the cross section quickly.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.38.5609

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A multichannel study of the photodetachment of a negative ion such as ${\mathrm{S}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}}$ in the presence of a constant electric field is presented. The analysis is carried out as a series of frame transformations for the outgoing photoelectron. An earlier analysis in the absence of the external field is now augmented by the further transformations from spherical to cylindrical symmetry that are required. The interplay between the various thresholds due to fine structure in the negative ion and residual atom and the effects of the external field are analytically treated. The net effect is to eliminate the thresholds, to induce modulations in the detachment cross section, and to introduce field-assisted-tunneling contributions to the photodetachment. Numerical illustrations are provided. Our treatment closely parallels similar treatments of photoionization of neutral atoms in an electric field and of photodetachment in a magnetic field.
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We have implemented an integrable method with B-spline basis which allows us to calculate photodetachment cross sections of the ion in the presence of a constant electric field. The behaviour of the Feshbach resonances lying below the N = 2 and N = 3 thresholds is analysed in detail. Further insight on the relative importance of autoionization and tunnelling is provided by using a stabilization procedure. Our results permit us to explain most of the experimental findings and show the existence of resonance structures previously unobserved.
The behavior of the photodetachment cross section of the ${S}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ ion near thresholds in a magnetic field is derived. This cross section is shown to have an oscillatory dependence on photon energy. The calculation is based on first-order time-dependent perturbation theory, and final-state interactions are ignored. The weights of individual transitions between the various Zeeman sublevels for different light polarizations are given in terms of the appropriate angular momentum coupling coefficients. Broadening of the features of the cross section due to the motion of the ions is included in the calculation. The Wigner-law behavior known to be valid for zero magnetic field is shown to result from the magnetic field dependent cross section in the limit of low magnetic field. The theory is shown to be in good agreement with experimental results. The extension of the theory to other atomic negative ions is discussed.
Exact calculations of the photoionization cross sections of ground-state H in the presence of an external electric field are presented. The oscillations obtained above the zero-field ionization limit for $\ensuremath{\pi}$ polarization do not arise from specific properties of m=0m=0m=0 states, but from cancellation effects in the oscillator strengths due to the symmetry properties of the wave functions and of the light. The dependence of the cross section upon the light polarization is thoroughly explained and agrees with recent experiments on Rb.
The effect of final-state interactions on the photodetachment cross section of negative ions in a magnetic field is discussed. Experiments on the location of the 2P32^{2}P_{\frac{3}{2}}2P23​​ threshold in ${\mathbf{S}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ as a function of magnetic field show clearly the effect of the zero-point energy of an electron in a magnetic field. The experiments also give a precise value for the electron affinity and provide information about the interaction between the atom and the detached electron.