Zinc energy level diagram

Energy levels and transitions of neutral zinc (Zn I): the 70 strongest classified lines below 2 µm from the NIST Atomic Spectra Database and the 47 levels they connect, each line with its vacuum wavelength, frequency and, for 50 of them, the reduced dipole matrix element derived from the NIST transition rate. Measured lifetimes, transition rates, hyperfine constants and isotope shifts from the literature are included, each with its citation.

Hover a line or a level to isolate it, click to keep it selected. Scroll to zoom, drag to move.

Download: diagram (PDF) diagram (SVG) transitions (CSV) levels (CSV) source code

Key transitions of zinc

λ, ν from NIST level energies unless a measured frequency for this isotope is available. A: measured value or NIST. Γ/2π: natural linewidth of the upper level, 1/(2πτ).

⁶⁷Zn hyperfine structure (I = 5/2)

Measured A, B constants; sources in the data file.

Isotope shifts

Shift = ν(first isotope) − ν(second isotope).

Closed and nearly closed transitions of zinc

A transition is closed when its upper level can decay only to the level it was excited from, so the atom keeps scattering photons. “closed”: among the levels NIST lists, no other level below the upper level has the opposite parity and |ΔJ| ≤ 1, so no other electric-dipole decay exists. Otherwise the leak is the sum of the branching ratios of the other decay lines of the upper level (or 1 − branching ratio where that of the line itself has been measured), and the number of photons is 1 / leak. “≥” and “≤”: at least one possible decay path has no listed rate, so the leak is a lower limit. These numbers are derived from the branching ratios, lifetimes and rates of this page, not measured as such; the tag names the weakest of the inputs, * marks theory and ≈ a model or semi-empirical calculation. Listed: lines that start on the ground level or on a metastable level and leak at most 10 %, unless more than three possible decay paths have no listed rate. Fine-structure levels only: hyperfine and Zeeman dark states and forbidden decays without a listed rate are not considered. Select a line in the diagram for the full list of its leak channels.

Listed Zn transitions below 2 µm

Reduced dipole matrix elements follow the convention A = ω³|d|²/(3πε₀ħc³(2J′+1)), with J′ the upper level. Tags show where a number comes from: measured, NIST compilation, high-accuracy theory, a semi-empirical calculation (Kurucz line list, used only where no measurement or NIST value exists; typically within a factor 2), or a model calculation.

Zn energy levels

Zn⁺ ionisation limit 75769.31 cm⁻¹ = 9.39420 eV (131.980 nm)

Sources

• Blagoev, Malcheva, Penchev, Biemont, Xu, Persson, Svanberg, Phys. Scr. 69, 433 (2004) (ti…
• Kerkhoff, Schmidt, Zimmermann, Z. Phys. A 298, 249 (1980), Table 1 (selective pulsed-lase…
• Kurucz, R. L., Can. J. Phys. 89, 417 (2011); semi-empirical line list gf3000.pos of 2012-…
• Lurio, Phys. Rev. 126, 1768 (1962) (abstract; atomic-beam magnetic resonance on the metas…
• NIST ASD
• NIST ASD level energies
• Roederer, Lawler, Astrophys. J. 750, 76 (2012), arXiv:1204.3901, Table 2; original: Kerkh…
• Roeser, Padilla-Castillo, Ohayon, Thomas, Truppe, Meijer, Stellmer, Wright, 'Hyperfine st…
• Waldherr, Moeller, Stellmer, 'Isotope shifts and hyperfine splitting of the 1S0 -> 3P1 tr…
• Wraith et al., Phys. Lett. B 771, 385 (2017), Table 1 (collinear laser spectroscopy at CO…

Conventions. (1) Isotope-shift keys 'a-b' mean nu(a) - nu(b), all relative to 64Zn as printed; 67Zn values are hyperfine centres of gravity. (2) Fields beyond SCHEMA.md: natural_linewidth_*, photoionization, top-level 'rydberg' (ionization limit) and 'conflicts'. (3) rme_J_ea0 values are derived here from lifetimes (schema convention, branching to the ground state taken as 1); the 307.6 nm one rests on an approximate, uncited lifetime. (4) The 307.6 nm frequency_THz is a natural-mixture Doppler centre and is flagged 'not verified' in its source string so that the pipeline ignores it. (5) Zinc has far less modern laser-spectroscopy data than Cd or Hg: only the two ground-state lines have been measured with lasers. (6) Added 2026-10-01 (second pass): lifetimes of the 4sns 3S1 (n = 5-8) and 4snd 3D (n = 4-7) levels (Kerkhoff et al. 1980 read directly in the Springer two-page preview; Blagoev et al. 2004 second-hand from Kurucz's life3000.lab), 67Zn hyperfine constants of 4s4p 3P2 and 4s5s 3S1, isotope shifts of the 481.2 nm line relative to 68Zn (keys 'A-68' = nu(A) - nu(68), unc = statistical error only), and lifetime-normalised A values of the 3P-3S1 and 3P-3D multiplets (LS-coupling branching, see the notes). NIST lists 4s7d 3D1 and 3D2 at the same energy 72626.0 cm^-1: the entries are told apart by J only.

Atoms with measured data

• Lithium-632 levels, 85 lines
• Lithium-732 levels, 85 lines
• Beryllium-917 levels, 26 lines
• Sodium-2336 levels, 106 lines
• Magnesium-2418 levels, 61 lines
• Magnesium-2518 levels, 61 lines
• Potassium-3934 levels, 84 lines
• Potassium-4034 levels, 84 lines
• Potassium-4134 levels, 84 lines
• Calcium-4035 levels, 61 lines
• Calcium-4335 levels, 61 lines
• Chromium-5256 levels, 87 lines
• Chromium-5356 levels, 87 lines
• Rubidium-8536 levels, 94 lines
• Rubidium-8736 levels, 94 lines
• Strontium-8440 levels, 70 lines
• Strontium-8640 levels, 70 lines
• Strontium-8740 levels, 70 lines
• Strontium-8840 levels, 70 lines
• Cadmium-11115 levels, 21 lines
• Cadmium-11315 levels, 21 lines
• Cadmium-11415 levels, 21 lines
• Caesium-13331 levels, 79 lines
• Barium-13744 levels, 89 lines
• Barium-13844 levels, 89 lines
• Dysprosium-16139 levels, 55 lines
• Dysprosium-16239 levels, 55 lines
• Dysprosium-16339 levels, 55 lines
• Dysprosium-16439 levels, 55 lines
• Erbium-16673 levels, 90 lines
• Erbium-16773 levels, 90 lines
• Erbium-16873 levels, 90 lines
• Thulium-16972 levels, 73 lines
• Ytterbium-17118 levels, 26 lines
• Ytterbium-17318 levels, 26 lines
• Ytterbium-17418 levels, 26 lines
• Mercury-19927 levels, 47 lines
• Mercury-20127 levels, 47 lines
• Mercury-20227 levels, 47 lines

All elements: periodic table