Triple photoionization of Xe3+, Xe4+ and Xe5+ ions has been studied in the energy range 670-750 eV, including the 3d ionization threshold. The photon-ion merged-beam technique was used at a synchrotron light source to measure the absolute photoioniza
tion cross sections. These cross sections exhibit a progressively larger number of sharp resonances as the ion charge state is increased. This clearly visualizes the re-ordering of the $epsilon$f continuum into a regular series of (bound) Rydberg orbitals as the ionic core becomes more attractive. The energies and strengths of the resonances are extracted from the experimental data and are further analyzed by relativistic atomic-structure calculations.
The photon-ion merged-beams technique has been employed at the new Photon-Ion spectrometer at PETRA III (PIPE) for measuring multiple photoionization of Xe$^{q+}$ (q=1-5) ions. Total ionization cross sections have been obtained on an absolute scale f
or the dominant ionization reactions of the type h u + Xe$^{q+}$ $to$ Xe$^{r+}$ + (q-r) e$^-$ with product charge states q+2 $le$ r $le$ q+5. Prominent ionization features are observed in the photon-energy range 650-750 eV, which are associated with excitation or ionization of an inner-shell 3d electron. Single-configuration Dirac-Fock calculations agree quantitatively with the experimental cross sections for non-resonant photoabsorption, but fail to reproduce all details of the measured ionization resonance structures.
The hyperfine induced 2s 2p 3P0 -> 2s2 1S0 transition rate in Be-like sulfur was measured by monitoring the decay of isotopically pure beams of 32-S12+ and 33-S12+ ions in a heavy-ion storage ring. Within the 4% experimental uncertainty the experimen
tal value of 0.096(4)/s agrees with the most recent theoretical results of Cheng et al. [Phys. Rev. A 77, 052504 (2008)] and Andersson et al. [Phys. Rev. A 79, 032501 (2009)]. Repeated experiments with different magnetic fields in the storage-ring bending magnets demonstrate that artificial quenching of the 2s 2p 3P0 state by these magnetic fields is negligible.
Dielectronic recombination (DR) of xenonlike W20+ forming W19+ has been studied experimentally at a heavy-ion storage-ring. A merged-beams method has been employed for obtaining absolute rate coefficients for electron-ion recombination in the collisi
on energy range 0-140 eV. The measured rate coefficient is dominated by strong DR resonances even at the lowest experimental energies. At plasma temperatures where the fractional abundance of W20+ is expected to peak in a fusion plasma, the experimentally derived plasma recombination rate coefficient is over a factor of 4 larger than the theoretically-calculated rate coefficient which is currently used in fusion plasma modeling. The largest part of this discrepancy stems most probably from the neglect in the theoretical calculations of DR associated with fine-structure excitations of the W20+([Kr] 4d10 4f8) ion core.
