Study of low-lying electronic states of Ni atoms in solid inert gas matrices

Laser-induced fluorscence studies of low-lying energy states of Ni atoms isolated in Ne, Ar, and Kr matrices show that the atoms in Ne matrices are gas-like in nature, with a 3F4(3d84s2) ground state and levels only slightly perturbed by the matrix environment. The Ar and Kr matrices contain not only these gas-like atoms but also Ni atoms in a second kind of environment. The ground state of these atoms is 3D3(3d94s1), which we estimate lies about 200 cm−1 below 3F4.