0000000000077027
AUTHOR
T. Kron
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
Narrow linewidth operation of the RILIS titanium: Sapphire laser at ISOLDE/CERN
Abstract A narrow linewidth operating mode for the Ti:sapphire laser of the CERN ISOLDE Resonance Ionization Laser Ion Source (RILIS) has been developed. This satisfies the laser requirements for the programme of in-source resonance ionization spectroscopy measurements and improves the selectivity for isomer separation using RILIS. A linewidth reduction from typically 10 GHz down to 1 GHz was achieved by the intra-cavity insertion of a second (thick) Fabry-Perot etalon. Reliable operation during a laser scan was achieved through motorized control of the tilt angle of each etalon. A scanning, stabilization and mode cleaning procedure was developed and implemented in LabVIEW. The narrow linew…
High efficiency resonance ionization of palladium with Ti:sapphire lasers
This work presents the development and testing of highly efficient excitation schemes for resonance ionization of palladium. To achieve the highest ionization efficiencies, a high-power, high repetition rate Ti:sapphire laser system was used and 2-step, 3-step and 4-step schemes were investigated and compared. Starting from different excited steps, the frequencies of the final ionization steps were tuned across the full accessible spectral range of the laser system, revealing several autoionizing Rydberg series, which converge towards the energetically higher lying state of the Pd+ ion ground state configuration. Through proper choice of these excitation steps, we developed a highly efficie…
A gas-jet apparatus for high-resolution laser spectroscopy on the heaviest elements at SHIP
© 2019 Elsevier B.V. Laser spectroscopy enables the determination of fundamental atomic and nuclear properties with high precision. In view of the low production rates of the heaviest elements, a high total efficiency is a crucial requirement for any experimental setup to be used in on-line experiments. The setup requires the use of gas stopping techniques to slow down the radionuclides of interest. In previous studies laser spectroscopy was performed inside a gas-filled stopping cell with a limited spectral resolution of a few GHz. Collisional broadening inside stopping cells ultimately limits the precision of laser spectroscopic studies and hampers in particular hyperfine spectroscopy. Th…
Hyperfine structure study of Tc97,98,99 in a new laser ion source for high-resolution laser spectroscopy
Using a novel concept for efficient laser spectroscopy, we investigated the hyperfine splittings of three different atomic transitions in the long-lived isotopes $^{97\ensuremath{-}99}\mathrm{Tc}$. Despite the refractory character of the element technetium, sample sizes as low as ${10}^{11}$ atoms were sufficient to achieve excellent signal-to-noise ratios at a spectroscopic linewidth of less than 100 MHz. The obtained spectra were analyzed in detail, which results in a very good consistency for the extracted hyperfine parameters from the different transitions. The presented measurements provide the first hyperfine structure data for the isotopes $^{97,98}\mathrm{Tc}$ from which, in combina…
Hot-cavity studies for the Resonance Ionization Laser Ion Source
International audience; The Resonance Ionization Laser Ion Source (RILIS) has emerged as an important technique in many Radioactive Ion Beam (RIB) facilities for its reliability, and ability to ionize target elements efficiently and element selectively. GISELE is an off-line RILIS test bench to study the implementation of an on-line laser ion source at the GANIL separator facility. The aim of this project is to determine the best technical solution which combines high selectivity and ionization efficiency with small ion beam emittance and stable long term operation. The ion source geometry was tested in several configurations in order to find a solution with optimal ionization efficiency an…
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…
Atom beam emersion from hot cavity laser ion sources
Abstract Ion sources exploiting laser resonance ionization offer efficient and element-selective radioactive ion beam production at the leading isotope separation on-line facilities worldwide. Most commonly, laser resonance ionization takes place inside a resistively heated atomizer tube directly coupled to the production target, where the element of interest is evaporated and provided as atomic vapor. While naturally the majority of atoms is ionized inside this hot cavity, a fraction of the neutrals effuses towards the high voltage beam extraction system of the subsequent mass separator. We report on several systematic investigations on this phenomenon regarding its significance and implic…
Performance of Dye and Ti:sapphire laser systems for laser ionization and spectroscopy studies at S3
The novel and sensitive In-Gas Laser Ionization Spectroscopy (IGLIS) technique enables high-precision laser spectroscopy of the heaviest elements and isotopes very far from stability that are produced in fusion-evaporation reactions at in-flight separators. Powerful and dedicated laser systems are required in these facilities to realize in-gas jet laser spectroscopy with optimal spectral resolution and efficiency. The performance with respect to the requirements for IGLIS studies at the low energy front-end of the Super Separator Spectrometer (S3) at GANIL, France, of Dye and Ti:sapphire laser systems is investigated. In addition, a number of specific experimental cases on key isotopes of t…
Optimization of a hot-cavity type resonant ionization laser ion source
TuePS05; International audience; Resonant Ionization Laser Ion Source (RILIS) is nowadays an important technique in many RadioactiveIon Beam (RIB) facilities for its reliability and ability to ionize efficiently and element selectively.Grand Accélérateur National d’Ions Lourds (GANIL) Ion Source using Electron Laser Excitation(GISELE) is an off-line test bench for RILIS developed to study a fully operational resonant laserion source at GANIL facility. The ion source body has been designed as a modular system toinvestigate different experimental approaches by varying the design parameters, to develop the futureon-line laser ion source. The aim of this project is to determine the best technic…
Towards high-resolution laser ionization spectroscopy of the heaviest elements in supersonic gas jet expansion
Resonant laser ionization and spectroscopy are widely used techniques at radioactive ion beam facilities to produce pure beams of exotic nuclei and measure the shape, size, spin and electromagnetic multipole moments of these nuclei. However, in such measurements it is difficult to combine a high efficiency with a high spectral resolution. Here we demonstrate the on-line application of atomic laser ionization spectroscopy in a supersonic gas jet, a technique suited for high-precision studies of the ground- and isomeric-state properties of nuclei located at the extremes of stability. The technique is characterized in a measurement on actinium isotopes around the N=126 neutron shell closure. A…
Performance of a high repetition pulse rate laser system for in-gas-jet laser ionization studies with the Leuven laser ion source @ LISOL
The Leuven Isotope Separator On-Line (LISOL) facility at the Cyclotron Research Center (CRC) Louvain-la-Neuve; The laser ionization efficiency of the Leuven gas cell-based laser ion source was investigated under on- and off-line conditions using two distinctly different laser setups: a low-repetition rate dye laser system and a high-repetition rate Ti:sapphire laser system. A systematic study of the ion signal dependence on repetition rate and laser pulse energy was performed in off-line tests using stable cobalt and copper isotopes. These studies also included in-gas-jet laser spectroscopy measurements on the hyperfine structure of 63Cu. A final run under on-line conditions in which the ra…
Developments towards in-gas-jet laser spectroscopy studies of actinium isotopes at LISOL
To study exotic nuclides at the borders of stability with laser ionization and spectroscopy techniques, highest efficiencies in combination with a high spectral resolution are required. These usually opposing requirements are reconciled by applying the in-gas-laser ionization and spectroscopy (IGLIS) technique in the supersonic gas jet produced by a de Laval nozzle installed at the exit of the stopping gas cell. Carrying out laser ionization in the low-temperature and low density supersonic gas jet eliminates pressure broadening, which will significantly improve the spectral resolution. This article presents the required modifications at the Leuven Isotope Separator On-Line (LISOL) facility…
High-resolution laser spectroscopy of long-lived plutonium isotopes
Long-lived isotopes of plutonium were studied using two complementary techniques, high-resolution resonance ionisation spectroscopy (HR-RIS) and collinear laser spectroscopy (CLS). Isotope shifts have been measured on the $5f^67s^2\ ^7F_0 \rightarrow 5f^56d^27s\ (J=1)$ and $5f^67s^2\ ^7F_1 \rightarrow 5f^67s7p\ (J=2)$ atomic transitions using the HR-RIS method and the hyperfine factors have been extracted for the odd mass nuclei $^{239,241}$Pu. Collinear laser spectroscopy was performed on the $5f^67s\ ^8F_{1/2} \rightarrow J=1/2\; (27523.61\text{cm}^{-1})$ ionic transition with the hyperfine $A$ factors measured for $^{239}$Pu. Changes in mean-squared charge radii have been extracted and s…
In-gas-cell laser ionization studies of plutonium isotopes at IGISOL
Abstract In-gas-cell resonance laser ionization has been performed on long-lived isotopes of Pu at the IGISOL facility, Jyvaskyla. This initiates a new programme of research towards high-resolution optical spectroscopy of heavy actinide elements which can be produced in sufficient quantities at research reactors and transported to facilities elsewhere. In this work a new gas cell has been constructed for fast extraction of laser-ionized elements. Samples of 238–240,242 Pu and 244 Pu have been evaporated from Ta filaments, laser ionized, mass separated and delivered to the collinear laser spectroscopy station. Here we report on the performance of the gas cell through studies of the mass spec…
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…
In-gas laser ionization and spectroscopy of actinium isotopes near the N=126 closed shell
The in-gas laser ionization and spectroscopy (IGLIS) techniquewas applied on the $^{212–215}$Ac isotopes, produced at the Leuven Isotope Separator On-Line (LISOL) facility by using the in-gas-cell and the in-gas-jet methods. The first application under on-line conditions of the in-gas-jet laser spectroscopy method showed a superior performance in terms of selectivity, spectral resolution, and efficiency in comparison with the in-gas-cell method. Following the analysis of both experiments, the magnetic-dipole moments for the $^{212–215}$Ac isotopes, electric-quadrupole moments and nuclear spins for the $^{214,215}$Ac isotopes are presented and discussed. A good agreement is obtained with lar…
Double-resonance-ionization mapping of the hyperfine structure of the stable Cu isotopes using pulsed narrowband Ti:sapphire lasers
We present two approaches to enhance the resolving power for measuring hyperfine structure constants using resonance ionization spectroscopy. The first method employs a 2D-resonance ionization spectroscopy scanning technique with pulsed, narrowband Ti:sapphire lasers (1 GHz linewidth), allowing us to resolve hyperfine components that cannot be separated using the standard 1D-scanning method across only one optical transition. In a second refinement, the resolving power is further enhanced through the use of a ring design of the laser cavity. This layout leads to a reduction of the laser linewidth from 1 GHz to below 50 MHz, resulting in experimental linewidths of about 150 MHz. Motivated by…
Progress of resonant ionization laser ion source development at GANIL.
SPIRAL2 (Systeme de Production d’Ions Radioactifs Acceleres en Ligne) is a research facility under construction at GANIL (Grand Accelerateur National d’Ions Lourds) for the production of radioactive ion beams by isotope separation on-line methods and low-energy in-flight techniques. A resonant ionization laser ion source will be one of the main techniques to produce the radioactive ion beams. GISELE (GANIL Ion Source using Electron Laser Excitation) is a test bench developed to study a fully operational laser ion source available for Day 1 operations at SPIRAL2 Phase 2. The aim of this project is to find the best technical solution which combines high selectivity and ionization efficiency w…
First application of the Laser Ion Source and Trap (LIST) for on-line experiments at ISOLDE
The Laser Ion Source and Trap (LIST) provides a new mode of operation for the resonance ionization laser ion source (RILIS) at ISOLDE/CERN, reducing the amount of surface-ionized isobaric contaminants by up to four orders of magnitude. After the first successful on-line test at ISOLDE in 2011 the LIST was further improved in terms of efficiency, selectivity, and reliability through several off-line tests at Mainz University and at ISOLDE. In September 2012, the first on-line physics experiments to use the LIST took place at ISOLDE. The measurements of the improved LIST indicate more than a twofold increase in efficiency compared to the LIST of the 2011 run. The suppression of surface-ionize…
Measurement of the laser resonance ionization efficiency for lutetium
Abstract The development of a highly efficient resonance ionization scheme for lutetium is presented. A laser ion source, based on the all-solid-state Titanium:sapphire laser system, was used at the 30 keV RISIKO off-line mass separator to characterize different possible optical excitation schemes in respect to their ionization efficiency. The developed laser resonance ionization scheme can be directly applied to the use at radioactive ion beam facilities, e. g. at the CERN-MEDICIS facility, for large-scale production of medical radioisotopes.