Narrowing the range of possible solutions to the Pu electronic structure problem: Developing a new Bremstrahlung Isochromat Spectroscopy capability

Bremstrahlung Isochromat Spectroscopy (BIS) has a proven record for the probing of unoccupied electronic structure, including feasibility studies of actinides such as U and Th. A description of the BIS or Inverse Photoelectron Spectroscopy (IPES) process and of our reasoning concerning the potential importance of extending the application of BIS related techniques to the actinides, will be provided. To put this into the proper context, our past successes, using soft x-ray techniques to interrogate the electronic structure of Pu, will be briefly reviewed. Finally, the initial results of the calibration of the BIS device, including preliminary spectra from of the surrogate system CeOxide, will be presented.