Pseudopotential calculations for the potential energies of Ca+He and Ca+Ne Original Research Article

The pseudopotential treatment used so far for neutral species is extended to the case of the singly charged calcium ion perturbed by helium and neon atoms. The calculations have been performed for the adiabatic potentials and dipole transition moments in dependence on internuclear separation. Spin-orbit coupling is considered in a semi-empirical manner following the ‘atoms-in-molecules’ model. The results are discussed in the context of recent experiments on trapping and laser cooling of Ca+ ions in the presence of background gases.