Yu. Ralchenko

We report on the design, commissioning, and initial measurements of a Transition-edge Sensor (TES) x-ray spectrometer for the Electron Beam Ion Trap (EBIT) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Over the past few decades, the NIST EBIT has produced numerous studies of highly charged ions in diverse fields such as atomic physics, plasma spectroscopy, and laboratory astrophysics. The newly commissioned NIST EBIT TES Spectrometer (NETS) improves the measurement capabilities of the EBIT through a combination of high x-ray collection efficiency and resolving power. NETS utilizes 192 individual TES x-ray microcalorimeters (166/192 yield) to improve upon the collection area by a factor of ~30 over the 4-pixel neutron transmutation doped germanium-based microcalorimeter spectrometer previously used at the NIST EBIT. The NETS microcalorimeters are optimized for the x-ray energies from roughly 500 eV to 8,000 eV and achieve an energy resolution of 3.7 eV to 5.0 eV over this range, a more modest (<2X) improvement over the previous microcalorimeters. Beyond this energy range NETS can operate with various trade-offs, the most significant of which are reduced efficiency at lower energies and being limited to a subset of the pixels at higher energies. As an initial demonstration of the capabilities of NETS, we measured transitions in He-like and H-like O, Ne, and Ar as well as Ni-like W. We detail the energy calibration and data analysis techniques used to transform detector counts into x-ray spectra, a process that will be the basis for analyzing future data.

We present spectroscopic measurements and detailed theoretical analysis of inner-shell LMn and LNn (n $\geq$ 4) dielectronic resonances in highly-charged M-shell ions of tungsten. The x-ray emission from W$^{49+}$ through W$^{64+}$ was recorded at the electron beam ion trap (EBIT) facility at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) with a high-purity Ge detector for electron beam energies between 6.8 keV and 10.8 keV. The measured spectra clearly show the presence of strong resonance features as well as direct excitation spectral lines. The analysis of the recorded spectra with large-scale collisional-radiative (CR) modeling of the EBIT plasma allowed us to unambiguously identify numerous dielectronic resonances associated with excitations of the inner-shell 2s$_{1/2}$, 2p$_{1/2}$, and 2p$_{3/2}$ electrons.

The variation in mean-square nuclear charge radius of xenon isotopes was measured utilizing a new method based on extreme ultraviolet spectroscopy of highly charged Na-like ions. The isotope shift of the Na-like D1 (3s $^{2}$S$_{1/2}$ - 3p $^2$P$_{1/2}$) transition between the $^{124}$Xe and $^{136}$Xe isotopes was experimentally determined using the electron beam ion trap facility at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The mass shift and the field shift coefficients were calculated with enhanced precision by relativistic many-body perturbation theory and multi-configuration Dirac-Hartree-Fock method. The mean-square nuclear charge radius difference was found to be $δ<r^2>^{136, 124}$ = 0.269(0.042) fm$^2$. Our result has smaller uncertainty than previous experimental results and agrees with the recommended value by Angeli and Marinova [I. Angeli and K. P. Marinova, At. Data and Nucl. Data Tables {\bf 99}, 69-95 (2013)].

We report spectroscopic measurements of highly charged samarium and erbium performed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Electron Beam Ion Trap (EBIT). These measurements are in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) range, and span electron beam energies from 0.98 keV to 3.00 keV. We observed 71 lines from Kr-like Sm$^{26+}$ to Ni-like Sm$^{34+}$, connecting 83 energy levels, and 64 lines from Rb-like Er$^{32+}$ to Ni-like Er$^{40+}$, connecting 78 energy levels. Of these lines, 64 in Sm and 60 in Er are new. Line identifications are performed using collisional-radiative modeling of the EBIT plasma. All spectral lines are assigned individual uncertainties, most in the $\sim$0.001 nm range. Energy levels are derived from the wavelength measurements.

Signatures of multi-keV LMN dielectronic resonances in highly-charged 3d^n ions of tungsten were detected in the intensity ratios of extreme-ultraviolet magnetic-dipole lines within ground configurations. The measurements were performed with an electron beam ion trap at beam energies of about 6 keV. Large-scale collisional-radiative modeling incorporating magnetic sublevels of autoionizing levels showed the significance of anisotropy effects due to the monodirectional propagation of the electron beam. The observation method allows simultaneous resolved registration of dielectronic resonances from several ions.

The electron beam ion trap (EBIT) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology was used to produce highly-charged ions of hafnium, tantalum and gold with an open 3d shell. The extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) spectra from these ions were recorded with a flat-field grazing-incidence spectrometer in the wavelength range of 4.5 nm to 25 nm. A total of 133 new spectral lines, primarily due to magnetic-dipole transitions within the ground-state $3d^n$ configurations of the Co-like to K-like ions, were identified by comparing energy-dependent experimental spectra with a detailed collisional-radiative modeling of the EBIT plasma.

An electron beam ion trap (EBIT) is used to measure extreme ultraviolet spectra between 10 nm and 25 nm from highly-charged ions of tungsten with an open 3d shell (W XLVIII through W LVI). We found that almost all strong lines are due to the forbidden magnetic-dipole (M1) transitions within $3d^n$ ground configurations. A total of 37 spectral lines are identified for the first time using detailed collisional-radiative (CR) modeling of the EBIT spectra. A new level-merging scheme for compactification of rate equations is described. The CR simulations for Maxwellian plasmas show that several line ratios involving these M1 lines can be used to reliably diagnose temperature and density in hot fusion devices.

We report the first measurements and detailed analysis of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectra (4 nm to 20 nm) of highly-charged tungsten ions W$^{54+}$ to W$^{63+}$ obtained with an electron beam ion trap (EBIT). Collisional-radiative modelling is used to identify strong electric-dipole and magnetic-dipole transitions in all ionization stages. These lines can be used for impurity transport studies and temperature diagnostics in fusion reactors, such as ITER. Identifications of prominent lines from several W ions were confirmed by measurement of isoelectronic EUV spectra of Hf, Ta, and Au. We also discuss the importance of charge exchange recombination for correct description of ionization balance in the EBIT plasma.

We observed spectra of highly ionized tungsten in the extreme ultraviolet with an electron beam ion trap (EBIT) and a grazing incidence spectrometer at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Stages of ionization were distinguished by varying the energy of the electron beam between 2.1 keV and 4.3 keV and correlating the energies with spectral line emergence. The spectra were calibrated by reference lines of highly ionized iron produced in the EBIT. Identification of the observed lines was aided by collisional-radiative modeling of the EBIT plasma. Good quantitative agreement was obtained between the modeling results and the experimental observations. Our line identifications complement recent results for W$^{40+}$-W$^{45+}$ observed in a tokamak plasma by Pütterich {\it et al} (\jpb {\bf 38}, 3071, 2005). For most lines we agree with their assignment of ionization stage. Additionally, we present new identifications for some allowed and forbidden lines of W$^{39+}$, W$^{44+}$, W$^{46+}$, and W$^{47+}$. The uncertainties of our wavelengths range from 0.002 nm to 0.010 nm.