Regular Article

Theoretical study of photoionization cross sections of Al-like Sc

¹ Xian University of Posts & Telecommunications, Xian 710121, P.R. China
² Institute of Atomic and Molecular Physics, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, P.R. China
³ College of Electrical Engineering, Longdong University, Qingyang 745000, P.R. China

^a e-mail: wanghongbin2390@163.com

Received: 29 October 2019
Received in final form: 4 March 2020
Published online: 14 May 2020

Abstract

Photoionization (PI) cross sections of the ground state 3s²3p ²P°_1/2 and metastable state 3s²3p ²P°_3/2 of Al-like Sc are investigated using the Dirac R-matrix method. The current energy levels and radiative transition rates are consistent with experimental results and previous theory. Our calculated ionization energies of the ground and metastable states are in accordance with the experimental values. The PI cross sections show good agreement between length and velocity forms. Partial-wave contributions to the total PI of ground and metastable states are discussed. Moreover, the PI cross sections are dominated by a large number of resonances from the Rydberg series of autoionizing states. In addition to providing data for the Opacity Project TOPbase, the present work promotes plasma simulation and diagnosis.