Experimental Stark widths and shifts of Nb II spectral lines

Abstract

Stark widths and shifts of Nb II spectral lines have been measured by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). The experimental line profiles are obtained from spectra of the emission of laser-induced plasmas generated with samples prepared by borate fusion with small niobium concentrations, selected to minimize selfabsorption. Using different time delays in the detection of the emission, electron densities ranging from 0.81 × 1017 cm-3 to 6.7 × 1017 cm-3 and temperatures in the interval 10,100–16,700 K are employed in each measurement. The 26 Stark widths and 22 Stark shifts determined include spectral lines from transitions between 10 multiplets and 3 configurations. To our knowledge, only two experimental data for Nb II Stark widths were available previously in the literature.