Resonance structure in the Li^- photodetachment cross section

We report on the first observation of resonance structure in the total cross section for the photodetachment of Li^-. The structure arises from the autodetaching decay of doubly excited ^1P states of Li^- that are bound with respect to the 3p state of the Li atom. Calculations have been performed for both Li^- and H^- to assist in the identification of these resonances. The lowest lying resonance is a symmetrically excited intrashell resonance. Higher lying asymmetrically excited intershell states are observed which converge on the Li(3p) limit.