Stark structure of atomic gallium

Abstract

The Stark effect in Rydberg atoms has potential applications in the areas of dipole-dipole interaction, quantum information, quantum control, and so on. Many reflevant theoretical calculations and experimental studies about the Stark effect of alkali metal and alkali earth metals have been reported, but the other atom’s Stark effect is studied still relatively less. Our goal in this paper is to reflearch the third main group atom’s Stark effect in a large electric field. First, according to the level data of gallium atom in zero-field, we obtain the quantum defects from the modified Ritz formula in each state by using a nonlinear least-squares-fitting algorithm. The quantum defects as a function of the principal quantum number are analyzed in detail. Influences of both the core polarization and the penetrating valence electron on the quantum defect are discussed according to the fitting results. Then we use the Numerov algorithm to calculate the radial wave functions of atomic gallium. Finally, the Stark structures of Rydberg states around n=7 and n=18 are numerically calculated by matrix diagonalization. Results show that at the levels above n=7 manifold states, (n+1)P is higher than nD state, and it is in contrast to the levels below the n=7 manifold states. This phenomenon is different from the usual Stark structure of alkali metal atoms, the level’s order of which does not change with the principal quantum number. The Stark levels with the identical |m| anti-cross each other, and those with different |m| cross. Our results give an important reflerence for related reflearches, and are of great significance for insight into the atomic structure and the interaction between the atomic core and the highly excited electrons.