On-line implementation and first operation of the Laser Ion Source and Trap at ISOLDE/CERN

13 pags.; 12 figs.; 2 tab.; Open Access funded by CERN

Laser ion beam production at CERN-ISOLDE: New features – More possibilities

Abstract This article summarizes the current specifications and the latest features of the CERN-ISOLDE resonance ionization laser ion source (RILIS). This includes a description of the optical layout and the newly designed reference system. The ionization schemes for the laser ionized beams at ISOLDE are tabulated, including six new elements. All RILIS schemes are also made publicly available in the RILIS elements on-line database. Finally, we announce a paradigm shift in RILIS operation – the combination of a machine protection and a monitoring and control system has enabled on-call operation of the laser ion source for selected beams in 2014 and has become the standard mode of operation i…

Laser and decay spectroscopy of the short-lived isotope Fr214 in the vicinity of the N=126 shell closure

Laser Spectroscopy of Neutron-Rich Hg207,208 Isotopes: Illuminating the Kink and Odd-Even Staggering in Charge Radii across the N=126 Shell Closure

The mean-square charge radii of $^{207,208}$Hg ($Z=80, N=127,128$) have been studied for the first time and those of $^{202,203,206}$Hg ($N=122,123,126$) remeasured by the application of in-source resonance-ionization laser spectroscopy at ISOLDE (CERN). The characteristic \textit{kink} in the charge radii at the $N=126$ neutron shell closure has been revealed, providing the first information on its behavior below the $Z=82$ proton shell closure. A theoretical analysis has been performed within relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov and non-relativistic Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov approaches, considering both the new mercury results and existing lead data. Contrary to previous interpretations, it is d…

Laser resonance ionization scheme development for tellurium and germanium at the dual Ti:Sa–Dye ISOLDE RILIS

Abstract The resonance ionization laser ion source (RILIS) is the principal ion source of the ISOLDE radioactive beam facility based at CERN. Using the method of in-source laser resonance ionization spectroscopy, a transition to a new autoionizing state of tellurium was discovered and applied as part of a three-step, three-resonance, photo-ionization scheme. In a second study, a three-step, two-resonance, photo-ionization scheme for germanium was developed and the ionization efficiency was measured at ISOLDE. This work increases the range of ISOLDE RILIS ionized beams to 31 elements. Details of the spectroscopy studies are described and the new ionization schemes are summarized.

The identification of autoionizing states of atomic chromium for the resonance ionization laser ion source of the ISOLDE radioactive ion beam facility

Abstract This paper presents the results of an investigation into autoionizing states of atomic chromium, in the service of the resonance ionization laser ion source (RILIS): the principal ion source of the ISOLDE radioactive ion beam facility based at CERN. The multi-step resonance photo-ionization process enables element selective ionization which, in combination with mass separation, allows isotope specific selectivity in the production of radioactive ion beams at ISOLDE. The element selective nature of the process requires a multi-step “ionization scheme” to be developed for each element. Using the method of in-source resonance ionization spectroscopy, an optimal three-step, three-reson…

Advances in surface ion suppression from RILIS: Towards the Time-of-Flight Laser Ion Source (ToF-LIS)

Abstract We present results from the development towards the Time-of-Flight Laser Ion Source (ToF-LIS) aiming for the suppression of isobaric contaminants through fast beam gating. The capability to characterize high resistance ion sources has been successfully demonstrated. A ninefold selectivity gain has been achieved through suppression of surface ionized potassium, while maintaining >90% transmission for laser-ionized gallium using a thin wall graphite ionizer cavity combined with a fast beam gate. Initial results from the investigation of glassy carbon as a potential hot cavity ion source are presented. Power-cycle tests of a newly designed mount for fragile ion source cavities indicat…

CRIS: A new method in isomeric beam production

The Collinear Resonance Ionization Spectroscopy (CRIS) experiment at ISOLDE, CERN, uses laser radiation to stepwise excite and ionize an atomic beam for the purpose of ultra-sensitive detection of rare isotopes, and hyperfine-structure measurements. The technique also offers the ability to purify an ion beam that is heavily contaminated with radioactive isobars, including the ground state of an isotope from its isomer, allowing decay spectroscopy on nuclear isomeric states to be performed. The isomeric ion beam is selected by resonantly exciting one of its hyperfine structure levels, and subsequently ionizing it. This selectively ionized beam is deflected to a decay spectroscopy station (DS…

Penning-trap mass spectrometry and mean-field study of nuclear shape coexistence in the neutron-deficient lead region

We present a study of nuclear shape coexistence in the region of neutron-deficient lead isotopes. The midshell gold isotopes 180,185,188,190Au (Z=79), the two long-lived nuclear states in 197At (Z=85), and the neutron-rich nuclide 219At were produced by the ISOLDE facility at CERN and their masses were determined with the high-precision Penning-trap mass spectrometer ISOLTRAP. The studied gold isotopes address the trend of binding energies in a region of the nuclear chart where the nuclear charge radii show pronounced discontinuities. Significant deviations from the atomic-mass evaluation were found for 188,190Au. The new trend of two-neutron separation energies is smoother, although it doe…

The electron affinity of astatine

One of the most important properties influencing the chemical behavior of an element is the electron affinity (EA). Among the remaining elements with unknown EA is astatine, where one of its isotopes, 211At, is remarkably well suited for targeted radionuclide therapy of cancer. With the At− anion being involved in many aspects of current astatine labeling protocols, the knowledge of the electron affinity of this element is of prime importance. Here we report the measured value of the EA of astatine to be 2.41578(7) eV. This result is compared to state-of-the-art relativistic quantum mechanical calculations that incorporate both the Breit and the quantum electrodynamics (QED) corrections and…

Laser spectroscopy of francium isotopes at the borders of the region of reflection asymmetry

The magnetic dipole moments and changes in mean-square charge radii of the neutron-rich $^{218m,219,229,231}\text{Fr}$ isotopes were measured with the newly-installed Collinear Resonance Ionization Spectroscopy (CRIS) beam line at ISOLDE, CERN, probing the $7s~^{2}S_{1/2}$ to $8p~^{2}P_{3/2}$ atomic transition. The $\delta\langle r^{2}\rangle^{A,221}$ values for $^{218m,219}\text{Fr}$ and $^{229,231}\text{Fr}$ follow the observed increasing slope of the charge radii beyond $N~=~126$. The charge radii odd-even staggering in this neutron-rich region is discussed, showing that $^{220}\text{Fr}$ has a weakly inverted odd-even staggering while $^{228}\text{Fr}$ has normal staggering. This sugges…

High-resolution laser spectroscopy with the Collinear Resonance Ionisation Spectroscopy (CRIS) experiment at CERN-ISOLDE

The Collinear Resonance Ionisation Spectroscopy (CRIS) experiment at CERN has achieved high-resolution resonance ionisation laser spectroscopy with a full width at half maximum linewidth of 20(1) MHz for 219;221Fr, and has measured isotopes as short lived as 5 ms with 214Fr. This development allows for greater precision in the study of hyperfine structures and isotope shifts, as well as a higher selectivity of singleisotope, even single-isomer, beams. These achievements are linked with the development of a new laser laboratory and new data-acquisition systems. publisher: Elsevier articletitle: High-resolution laser spectroscopy with the Collinear Resonance Ionisation Spectroscopy (CRIS) exp…

Shape staggering of midshell mercury isotopes from in-source laser spectroscopy compared with density-functional-theory and Monte Carlo shell-model calculations

Neutron-deficient Hg177-185 isotopes were studied using in-source laser resonance-ionization spectroscopy at the CERN-ISOLDE radioactive ion-beam facility in an experiment combining different detection methods tailored to the studied isotopes. These include either α-decay tagging or multireflection time-of-flight gating for isotope identification. The endpoint of the odd-even nuclear shape staggering in mercury was observed directly by measuring for the first time the isotope shifts and hyperfine structures of Hg177-180. Changes in the mean-square charge radii for all mentioned isotopes, magnetic dipole, and electric quadrupole moments of the odd-A isotopes and arguments in favor of I=7/2 s…

Combined high-resolution laser spectroscopy and nuclear decay spectroscopy for the study of the low-lying states inFr206,At202, andBi198

High-resolution laser spectroscopy was performed on $^{206}\mathrm{Fr}$ with the collinear resonance ionization spectroscopy (CRIS) experiment at CERN-ISOLDE. The hyperfine structure and isotope shift of the ground, first isomeric and second isomeric states were measured. The hyperfine components were unambiguously assigned to each nuclear state by means of laser-assisted nuclear decay spectroscopy. The branching ratios in the $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ decay of $^{206}\mathrm{Fr}$ and $^{202}\mathrm{At}$ were also measured for the first time with isomerically purified beams. The extracted hindrance factors allow determination of the spin of the ground, first isomeric, and second isomeric states…

Quadrupole moments of odd-A 53−63Mn: Onset of collectivity towards N=40

Physics letters / B 760, 387 - 392 (2016). doi:10.1016/j.physletb.2016.07.016

Use of a Continuous Wave Laser and Pockels Cell for Sensitive High-Resolution Collinear Resonance Ionization Spectroscopy

New technical developments have led to a 2 orders of magnitude improvement of the resolution of the collinear resonance ionization spectroscopy (CRIS) experiment at ISOLDE, CERN, without sacrificing the high efficiency of the CRIS technique. Experimental linewidths of 20(1) MHz were obtained on radioactive beams of francium, allowing us for the first time to determine the electric quadrupole moment of the short lived [t1/2=22.0(5) ms]219Fr Qs=−1.21(2) eb, which would not have been possible without the advantages offered by the new method. This method relies on a continuous-wave laser and an external Pockels cell to produce narrow-band light pulses, required to reach the high resolution in t…

Spectroscopy of the long-lived excited state in the neutron-deficient nuclides Po195,197,199 by precision mass measurements

Direct mass measurements of the low-spin 3/2(-) and high-spin 13/2(+) states in the neutron-deficient isotopes Po-195 and Po-197 were performed with the Penning-trap mass spectrometer ISOLTRAP at ISOLDE-CERN. These measurements allow the determination of the excitation energy of the isomeric state arising from the nu i(13/2) orbital in Po-195,Po-197. Additionally, the excitation energy of isomeric states of lead, radon, and radium isotopes in this region were obtained from alpha-decay chains. These excitation energies complete the knowledge of the energy systematics in the region and confirm that the 13/2(+) states remain isomeric, independent of the number of valence neutrons.

Collinear Resonance Ionization Spectroscopy of Neutron-Deficient Francium Isotopes

The magnetic moments and isotope shifts of the neutron-deficient francium isotopes 202-205Fr were measured at ISOLDE-CERN with use of collinear resonance ionization spectroscopy. A production-to-detection efficiency of 1% was measured for 202Fr. The background from nonresonant and collisional ionization was maintained below one ion in 105 beam particles. Through a comparison of the measured charge radii with predictions from the spherical droplet model, it is concluded that the ground-state wave function remains spherical down to 205Fr, with a departure observed in 203Fr (N = 116). ispartof: Physical Review Letters vol:111 issue:21 pages:212501-4 ispartof: location:United States status: pub…

α -decay branching ratio of Pt180

Laser photodetachment of radioactive $^{128}$I$^−$

International audience; The first experimental investigation of the electron affinity (EA) of a radioactive isotope has been conducted at the CERN-ISOLDE radioactive ion beam facility. The EA of the radioactive iodine isotope (128)I (t (1/2) = 25 min) was determined to be 3.059 052(38) eV. The experiment was conducted using the newly developed Gothenburg ANion Detector for Affinity measurements by Laser PHotodetachment (GANDALPH) apparatus, connected to a CERN-ISOLDE experimental beamline. (128)I was produced in fission induced by 1.4 GeV protons striking a thorium/tantalum foil target and then extracted as singly charged negative ions at a beam energy of 20 keV. Laser photodetachment of th…

Changes in nuclear structure along the Mn isotopic chain studied via charge radii

The hyperfine spectra of $^{51,53-64}$Mn were measured in two experimental runs using collinear laser spectroscopy at ISOLDE, CERN. Laser spectroscopy was performed on the atomic $3d^5\ 4s^2\ ^{6}\text{S}_{5/2}\rightarrow 3d^5\ 4s4p\ ^{6}\text{P}_{3/2}$ and ionic $3d^5\ 4s\ ^{5}\text{S}_2 \rightarrow 3d^5\ 4p\ ^{5}\text{P}_3$ transitions, yielding two sets of isotope shifts. The mass and field shift factors for both transitions have been calculated in the multiconfiguration Dirac-Fock framework and were combined with a King plot analysis in order to obtain a consistent set of mean-square charge radii which, together with earlier work on neutron-deficient Mn, allow the study of nuclear struc…

Shape coexistence in Au 187 studied by laser spectroscopy

Hyperfine-structure parameters and isotope shift of the 9/2$^−$ isomeric state in $^{187}$Au relative to $^{197}$Au for the 267.6-nm atomic transition have been measured for the first time using the in-source resonance-ionization spectroscopy technique. The magnetic dipole moment and change in the mean-square charge radius for this 9/2$^−$ isomer have been deduced. The observed large isomer shift relative to the 1/2$^+$ ground state in $^{187}$Au confirms the occurrence of the shape coexistence in $^{187}$Au proposed earlier from the analysis of the nuclear spectroscopic data and particle plus triaxial rotor calculations. The analysis of the magnetic moment supports the previously proposed …

RILIS-ionized mercury and tellurium beams at ISOLDE CERN

This paper presents the results of ionization scheme development for application at the ISOLDE Resonance Ionization Laser Ion Source (RILIS). Two new ionization schemes for mercury are presented: a three-step three-resonance ionization scheme, ionizing via an excitation to a Rydberg level and a three-step two-resonance ionization scheme, with a non-resonant final step to the ionization continuum that corresponded to a factor of four higher ionization efficiency. The efficiency of the optimal mercury ionization scheme was measured, together with the efficiency of a new three-step three resonance ionization scheme for tellurium. The efficiencies of the mercury and tellurium ionization schemes…

The CERN/ISOLDE Laser Ion Source

Laser resonance photo-ionization an essential aspect of radioactive ion beam production for fundamental and applied physics research. The laser ion source of the ISOLDE facility, described here, is the most versatile of its type worldwide.

Charge radii and electromagnetic moments of At195–211

Hyperfine-structure parameters and isotope shifts of At195-211 have been measured for the first time at CERN-ISOLDE, using the in-source resonance-ionization spectroscopy method. The hyperfine structures of isotopes were recorded using a triad of experimental techniques for monitoring the photo-ion current. The Multi-Reflection Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer, in connection with a high-resolution electron multiplier, was used as an ion-counting setup for isotopes that either were affected by strong isobaric contamination or possessed a long half-life; the ISOLDE Faraday cups were used for cases with high-intensity beams; and the Windmill decay station was used for short-lived, predominantl…

Large shape staggering in neutron-deficient Bi isotopes

The changes in the mean-square charge radius (relative to 209Bi), magnetic dipole, and electric quadrupole moments of 187,188,189,191Bi were measured using the in-source resonance-ionization spectroscopy technique at ISOLDE (CERN). A large staggering in radii was found in 187,188,189Big, manifested by a sharp radius increase for the ground state of 188Bi relative to the neighboring 187,189Big. A large isomer shift was also observed for 188Bim. Both effects happen at the same neutron number, N=105, where the shape staggering and a similar isomer shift were observed in the mercury isotopes. Experimental results are reproduced by mean-field calculations where the ground or isomeric states were…

In-source laser spectroscopy of dysprosium isotopes at the ISOLDE-RILIS

A number of radiogenically produced dysprosium isotopes have been studied by in-source laser spectroscopy at ISOLDE using the Resonance Ionization Laser Ion Source (RILIS). Isotope shifts were measured relative to $^{152}$Dy in the 4 f$^{ 10}$6s$^{2}$ $^5$I$_8$ (gs) $\rightarrow$ 4 f$^{ 10}$6s6p (8,1)$^8_o$ (418.8 nm$_{vac}$) resonance transition. The electronic factor, F, and mass shift factor, M, were extracted and used for determining the changes in mean-squared charge radii for $^{145m}$Dy and $^{147m}$Dy for the first time. A number of radiogenically produced dysprosium isotopes have been studied by in-source laser spectroscopy at ISOLDE using the Resonance Ionization Laser Ion Source (…

Characterization of the shape-staggering effect in mercury nuclei

In rare cases, the removal of a single proton (Z) or neutron (N) from an atomic nucleus leads to a dramatic shape change. These instances are crucial for understanding the components of the nuclear interactions that drive deformation. The mercury isotopes (Z = 80) are a striking example1,2: their close neighbours, the lead isotopes (Z = 82), are spherical and steadily shrink with decreasing N. The even-mass (A = N + Z) mercury isotopes follow this trend. The odd-mass mercury isotopes 181,183,185Hg, however, exhibit noticeably larger charge radii. Due to the experimental difficulties of probing extremely neutron-deficient systems, and the computational complexity of modelling such heavy nucl…

Blurring the boundaries between ion sources: The application of the RILIS inside a FEBIAD type ion source at ISOLDE

For the first time, the laser resonance photo-ionization technique has been applied inside a FEBIAD-type ion source at an ISOL facility. This was achieved by combining the ISOLDE RILIS with the ISOLDE variant of the FEBIAD ion source (the VADIS) in a series of off-line and on-line tests at CERN. The immediate appli- cations of these developments include the coupling of the RILIS with molten targets at ISOLDE and the introduction of two new modes of FEBIAD operation: an element selective RILIS mode and a RILIS + VADIS mode for increased efficiency compared to VADIS mode operation alone. This functionality has been demonstrated off-line for gallium and barium and on-line for mercury and cadmi…