Reply To Comment On 'The 5d -> 6p Photoabsorption Spectra Of Pb Ii And Bi Iii: Evidence Of Excited States' By A. N. Ryabtsev

In this reply, we address the comments made by A N Ryabtsev on our paper (H Lu et al 2020 J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 53 115001). Specifically, we emphasize that the observed spectra depend critically on the plasma source type and conditions that pertain in the source. Our source of ions and experimental setup/method are quite different to the one referred to in the comment (A N Ryabtsev et al 2000 Opt. Spectrosc. 88 316-20). So there is no doubt that our spectra contain evidence of photoabsorption from low-lying excited states, and their inclusion is necessary, in order to account for the observed spectral distributions.