Abstract
The atomic level structure of the element fermium was investigated for the first time using a sample of atoms of the isotope with a half-life of 20.1 h. The atoms were evaporated from a filament and stored in the argon buffer gas of an optical cell. Atomic levels were sought by the method of resonance ionization spectroscopy using an excimer-dye-laser combination. Two atomic levels were found at wave numbers and . Partial transition rates to the ground state have been determined from their saturation characteristics. Multiconfiguration Dirac-Fock calculations suggest that the leading orders of these levels could be the and terms.
- Received 25 October 2002
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.90.163002
©2003 American Physical Society