Speaker
Description
The ytterbium monofluoride (YbF) molecule has gained attention for being a system well-suited for measuring the electric dipole moment of the electron (eEDM). In this work we present REMPI measurements of Rydberg states, i.e. states with a single (highly) excited electron, of YbF. Assignment of these measured Rydberg states to series that converge to various rotational and vibrational levels of the YbF+ cation leads to a very accurate value for the ionization energy (IE) of YbF, along with values for the rotational constant B and the vibrational transition energy ΔG1/2 of YbF+. In addition, we have performed photo induced Rydberg ionization (PIRI) measurements via a previously identified Rydberg state of YbF. These measurements, that had already been successfully performed on the dysprosium oxide (DyO) molecule within our group,leading to a first reliable gas-phase reference value for ΔG1/2 of DyO+, confirm our ΔG1/2 value for YbF+ obtained from Rydberg state analysis.
