0000000000501485
AUTHOR
S. Raeder
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…
The 48Ca+181Ta reaction: Cross section studies and investigation of neutron-deficient 86 ≤ Z ≤ 93 isotopes
© 2019 Fusion-evaporation reactions with the doubly magic projectile 48 Ca were used to access neutron-deficient nuclei around neptunium at the velocity filter SHIP, and investigated using the COMPASS decay spectroscopy station. With the use of digital electronics, several isotopes produced via neutron, proton, and α evaporation channels were identified by establishing correlated α-decay chains with short-lived sub-μs members. Data are given on decay chains stemming from 225,226 Np, 225 U, and 222,223 Pa. New information on the isotopes 225,226 Np and 222 Pa was obtained. Production cross sections of nuclei in the region using a variety of projectiles are discussed. The measured production …
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…
Rapid extraction of short-lived isotopes from a buffer gas cell for use in gas-phase chemistry experiments. Part I: Off-line studies with 219Rn and 221Fr
Abstract To study the chemical properties of the heaviest elements, a fast and efficient stopping and extraction of the highly energetic residues from heavy ion fusion reactions into the chemistry setup is essential. Currently used techniques like Recoil Transfer Chambers (RTC) relying on gas flow extraction provide high efficiencies for chemically non-reactive volatile species, but operate at extraction times t extr of about 0.5 s or more. Buffer Gas Cells (BGC) with electric and Radio-Frequency (RF) fields offer much faster extraction times. Here, we demonstrate the successful coupling of a BGC to a gas chromatography setup as is used for studies of chemical properties of superheavy eleme…
Developments for resonance ionization laser spectroscopy of the heaviest elements at SHIP
Abstract The experimental determination of atomic levels and the first ionization potential of the heaviest elements ( Z ⩾ 100 ) is key to challenge theoretical predictions and to reveal changes in the atomic shell structure. These elements are only artificially produced in complete-fusion evaporation reactions at on-line facilities such as the GSI in Darmstadt at a rate of, at most, a few atoms per second. Hence, highly sensitive spectroscopic methods are required. Laser spectroscopy is one of the most powerful and valuable tools to investigate atomic properties. In combination with a buffer-gas filled stopping cell, the Radiation Detected Resonance Ionization Spectroscopy (RADRIS) techniq…
COMPASS—A COMPAct decay spectroscopy set-up
Abstract A compact silicon detector array with high spatial granularity and fast, fully digital data recording has been developed and commissioned for the investigation of heavy and superheavy nuclear species. The detector array can be combined in close geometry with large volume germanium detectors. It offers comprehensive particle and photon coincidence and correlation spectroscopy by highly efficient evaporation residue, α , γ , conversion electron and X-ray detection supported by the high granularity of the implantation chip. Access to fast decay events in the sub-microsecond region is made possible by the fast timing properties of the digital signal processing. A novel Si-chip support …
Characterization of Supersonic Gas Jets for High-Resolution Laser Ionization Spectroscopy of Heavy Elements
© 2018 authors. Published by the American Physical Society. Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the »https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/» Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI. The method of laser spectroscopy in supersonic gas jets was proposed for high-resolution and high-efficiency in-gas laser ionization and spectroscopy studies of short-lived nuclei. The flow properties of such supersonic gas jets have been characterized under off-line conditions. Planar laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy of s…
Determination of the first ionization potential of technetium
Using resonance ionization spectroscopy the first-ionization potential of actinium has been determined by analyzing different Rydberg series in two-color resonant laser excitation. Three individual Rydberg series were investigated, converging toward the ionic ground state and toward the first- and second-excited state of the actinium ion, respectively. A combined analysis of the convergence limits leads to a consistent value for the first-ionization potential of Ac of $43\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}394.45\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}(19)\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}{\text{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$, equivalent to $5.380\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}226\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}(24)$ eV.
Recent Upgrades of the SHIPTRAP Setup: On the Finish Line Towards Direct Mass Spectroscopy of Superheavy Elements
With the Penning-trap mass spectrometer SHIPTRAP at GSI, Darmstadt, it is possible to investigate exotic nuclei in the region of the heaviest elements. Few years ago, challenging experiments led to the direct measurements of the masses of neutron-deficient isotopes with Z = 102,103 around N = 152. Thanks to recent advances in cooling and ion-manipulation techniques, a major technical upgrade of the setup has been recently accomplished to boost its efficiency. At present, the gap to reach more rare and shorter-lived species at the limits of the nuclear landscape has been narrowed. ispartof: pages:423-429 ispartof: Acta Physica Polonica B vol:48 issue:3 pages:423-429 ispartof: location:Zakopa…
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…
A setup to develop novel Chemical Isobaric SEparation (CISE)
Abstract Gas catchers are widely used to thermalize nuclear reaction products and subsequently extract them for precision measurements. However, impurities in the inert stopping gas can chemically react with the ions and thus influence the extraction efficiency. So far, chemical reactions in the gas-catcher have not been investigated in detail. Therefore, we are currently building a new setup to develop Chemical Isobaric SEparation (CISE) with the aim to understand the chemistry inside the gas-catcher and to explore its potential as a new technique for separation of isobars. In this paper, we give a short description of the setup together with the ion transportation studies performed via io…
On the performance of wavelength meters : Part 1 : consequences for medium-to-high-resolution laser spectroscopy
Present-day laser-spectroscopy experiments increasingly rely on modern commercial devices to monitor, stabilize, and scan the wavelength of their probe laser. Recently, new techniques are capable of achieving unprecedented levels of precision on atomic and nuclear observables, pushing these devices to their performance limits. Considering the fact that these observables themselves are deduced from the frequency difference between specific atomic resonances, in the order of MHz–GHz, the uncertainty on the output of the device measuring the wavelength is often directly related to the final systematic uncertainty on the experimental results. Owing to its importance, the performance of several …
The performance of the cryogenic buffer-gas stopping cell of SHIPTRAP
Direct high-precision mass spectrometry of the heaviest elements with SHIPTRAP, at GSI in Darmstadt, Germany, requires high efficiency to deal with the low production rates of such exotic nuclides. A second-generation gas stopping cell, operating at cryogenic temperatures, was developed and recently integrated into the relocated system to boost the overall efficiency. Offline measurements using 223Ra and 225Ac recoil-ion sources placed inside the gas volume were performed to characterize the gas stopping cell with respect to purity and extraction efficiency. In addition, a first online test using the fusion-evaporation residue 254No was performed, resulting in a combined stopping and extrac…
Alternative approach to populate and study the $^{229}Th$ nuclear clock isomer
A new approach to observe the radiative decay of the $^{229}$Th nuclear isomer, and to determine its energy and radiative lifetime, is presented. Situated at a uniquely low excitation energy, this nuclear state might be a key ingredient for the development of a nuclear clock, a nuclear laser and the search for time variations of the fundamental constants. The isomer's $\gamma$ decay towards the ground state will be studied with a high-resolution VUV spectrometer after its production by the $\beta$ decay of $^{229}$Ac. The novel production method presents a number of advantages asserting its competitive nature with respect to the commonly used $^{233}$U $\alpha$-decay recoil source. In this …