Knowledge Bank

A Ligand Field Model has been developed which fits the low energy levels of CeO and PrO. We are now investigating the spectroscopy of YbO to test and refine the theory. Three of the expected ten lowest energy levels [9 from the $4f13(2F7/2)6s$ and 1 from the $4f14$ superconfiqurations] have been observed in rotationally analyzed laser excitation spectra, with an additional three levels detected in dispersed fluorescence spectra. Our talk will present an experimental energy level diagram of the low energy states of YbO and use Ligand Field Theory to interpret their relative energy order and hyperfine structure.