Over the last 25 years, the atomic standard reference databases and online tools developed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have provided users around the world with the highest-quality data on various atomic parameters (e.g., level energies, transition wavelengths, and oscillator strengths) and online capabilities for fast and reliable collisional-radiative modeling of diverse plasmas. Here we present an overview of the recent developments regarding NIST numerical and bibliographic atomic databases and outline the prospects and vision of their evolution.
1 October 2010 in Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer
An electron-beam ion trap (EBIT) is used to measure extreme ultraviolet spectra between 10 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 3dn ground configurations. A total of 37 previously unknown spectral lines are identified using detailed collisional-radiative (CR) modeling of the EBIT spectra. A 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.