Energy level

This article is about orbital (electron) energy levels. For compounds' energy levels, see chemical potential.

Energy level is simply defined as the different states of potential energy for electrons in an atom. A quantum mechanical system can only be in certain states, so that only certain energy levels are possible. The term energy level is most commonly used in reference to the electron configuration in atoms or molecules. In other words, the energy spectrum can be quantized.

As with classical potentials, the potential energy is usually set to zero at infinity, leading to a negative potential energy for bound electron states.

Energy levels are said to be degenerate, if the same energy level is obtained by more than one quantum mechanical state. They are then called degenerate energy levels.

The following sections of this article gives an overview over the most important factors that determine the energy levels of atoms and molecules.

Atoms change

Intrinsic energy levels change

Orbital state energy level change

Assume an electron in a given atomic orbital. The energy of its state is mainly determined by the electrostatic interaction of the (negative) electron with the (positive) nucleus. The energy levels of an electron around a nucleus are given by :

E_{n}=-hcR_{\infty }{\frac {Z^{2}}{n^{2}}}\

,

where $R_{\infty }\$ is the Rydberg constant (typically between 1 eV and 10³ eV), Z is the charge of the atom's nucleus, $n\$ is the principal quantum number, e is the charge of the electron, $h$ is Planck's constant, and c is the speed of light.

The Rydberg levels depend only on the principal quantum number $n\$ .

Fine structure splitting change

Fine structure arises from relativistic kinetic energy corrections, spin-orbit coupling (an electrodynamic interaction between the electron's spin and motion and the nucleus's electric field) and the Darwin term (contact term interaction of s-shell electrons inside the nucleus). Typical magnitude $10^{-3}$ eV.

Hyperfine structure change

Spin-nuclear-spin coupling (see hyperfine structure). Typical magnitude $10^{-4}$ eV.

Electrostatic interaction of an electron with other electrons change

If there is more than one electron around the atom, electron-electron-interactions raise the energy level. These interactions are often neglected if the spatial overlap of the electron wavefunctions is low.

Energy levels due to external fields change

Zeeman effect change

The interaction energy is: $U=-\mu B$ with $\mu =qL/2m$

Zeeman effect taking spin into account change

This takes both the magnetic dipole moment due to the orbital angular momentum and the magnetic momentum arising from the electron spin into account.

Due to relativistic effects (Dirac equation), the magnetic moment arising from the electron spin is $\mu =-\mu _{B}gs$ with $g$ the gyro-magnetic factor (about 2). $\mu =\mu _{l}+g\mu _{s}$ The interaction energy therefore gets $U_{B}=-\mu B=\mu _{B}B(m_{l}+gm_{s})$ .

Stark effect change

Interaction with an external electric field (see Stark effect).

Molecules change

Roughly speaking, a molecular energy state, i.e. an eigenstate of the molecular Hamiltonian, is the sum of an electronic, vibrational, rotational, nuclear and translational component, such that:

E=E_{\mathrm {electronic} }+E_{\mathrm {vibrational} }+E_{\mathrm {rotational} }+E_{\mathrm {nuclear} }+E_{\mathrm {translational} }\,

where $E_{\mathrm {electronic} }$ is an eigenvalue of the electronic molecular Hamiltonian (the value of the potential energy surface) at the equilibrium geometry of the molecule.

The molecular energy levels are labelled by the molecular term symbols.

The specific energies of these components vary with the specific energy state and the substance.

In molecular physics and quantum chemistry, an energy level is a quantized energy of a bound quantum mechanical state.

Crystalline materials change

Crystalline materials are often characterized by a number of important energy levels. The most important ones are the top of the valence band, the bottom of the conduction band, the Fermi energy, the vacuum level, and the energy levels of any defect states in the crystals.