PNNL

Abstract

The minimum energy that is required to remove the first electron from e neutral atom, one call ionization energy E1. It is not only for every element of the periodic table but also even for every nuclide characteristic and therefore belongs to the most basic atomic properties. The ionization energy is important for the determination of a ‘row’ of properties, from the chemical reactivity to the color light absorbed and emitted from an atom. The value of E1 depends on the stationary state that the farthest electron originally occupies. If the electron finds itself, however, in the first excited stat, only 3.4 eV is required. Previously the ionization energy could be determined with high accuracy in the range of 10-8 by means of laser spectroscopy only for atoms with one or two valence electrons, whereby the most accurate to date result from measurements on Hydrogen. We could now, for the first time in a rare earth element, reach that kind of accuracy. Motivation for these investigations was the development of an analysis method for the ultra-trace detection of Gadolinium in tissue- and meteorite samples.