Photodetachment of the Terbium Anion

Laser Photodetachment Electron Spectroscopy (LPES) has been used to study the terbium anion. Photoelectron kinetic energy spectra were measured at photon energies ranging from 457.9-514.5 nm using a crossed laser-ion beams apparatus. In addition, photoelectron angular distributions were measured as a function of the angle between the laser polarization vector and the linear momentum vector of the collected photoelectrons. Photoelectron kinetic energy spectra from the photodetachment of Na$^{-}$ and C$^{-}$ were used to calibrate the energy scale for the Tb$^{-}$ photoelectron energy spectra. Preliminary results from the analysis of these data will be presented.