0000000000520707
AUTHOR
Timo Dickel
Separation of atomic and molecular ions by ion mobility with an RF carpet
Gas-filled stopping cells are used at accelerator laboratories for the thermalization of high-energy radioactive ion beams. Common challenges of many stopping cells are a high molecular background of extracted ions and limitations of extraction efficiency due to space-charge effects. At the FRS Ion Catcher at GSI, a new technique for removal of ionized molecules prior to their extraction out of the stopping cell has been developed. This technique utilizes the RF carpet for the separation of atomic ions from molecular contaminant ions through their difference in ion mobility. Results from the successful implementation and test during an experiment with a 600~MeV/u $^{124}$Xe primary beam are…
Multi-nucleon transfer reactions at ion catcher facilities : a new way to produce and study heavy neutron-rich nuclei
Abstract The production of very neutron-rich nuclides heavier than fission fragments is an ongoing experimental challenge. Multi-nucleon transfer reactions (MNT) have been suggested as a method to produce these nuclides. By thermalizing the reaction products in gas-filled stopping cells, we can deliver them as cooled high-quality beams to decay, laser and mass spectrometry experiments. High precision mass spectrometry will allow for the first time to universally and unambiguously identify the atomic and proton numbers of the ions produced in MNT reactions. In this way their ground and isomeric state properties can be studied in high-precision measurements. In experiments at IGISOL, Finland …
Design, construction and cooling system performance of a prototype cryogenic stopping cell for the Super-FRS at FAIR
A cryogenic stopping cell for stopping energetic radioactive ions and extracting them as a low energy beam was developed. This first ever cryogenically operated stopping cell serves as prototype device for the Low-Energy Branch of the Super-FRS at FAIR. The cell has a stopping volume that is 1 m long and 25 cm in diameter. Ions are guided by a DC field along the length of the stopping cell and by a combined RF and DC fields provided by an RE carpet at the exit-hole side. The ultra-high purity of the stopping gas required for optimum ion survival is reached by cryogenic operation. The design considerations and construction of the cryogenic stopping cell, as well as some performance character…
Rate capability of a cryogenic stopping cell for uranium projectile fragments produced at 1000 MeV/u
At the Low-Energy Branch (LEB) of the Super-FRS at FAIR, projectile and fission fragments will be produced at relativistic energies, separated in-flight, energy-bunched, slowed down and thermalized in a cryogenic stopping cell (CSC) filled with ultra-pure He gas. The fragments are extracted from the stopping cell using a combination of DC and RF electric fields and gas flow. A prototype CSC for the LEB has been developed and successfully commissioned at the FRS Ion Catcher at GSI. Ionization of He buffer gas atoms during the stopping of energetic ions creates a region of high space charge in the stopping cell. The space charge decreases the extraction efficiency of stopping cells since the …
Production of Exotic Nuclei via MNT Reactions Using Gas Cells
The use of multi-nucleon transfer (MNT) reactions to produce neutron-rich nuclei in the heavy region has received an increased attention in the last decade. The feasibility of employing such reactions at the FRS Ion Catcher facility at GSI and the IGISOL facility at JYFL is studied using a combination of theoretical calculations and experiment simulations. The reactions are computed within a Langevin-type model, and the Geant program is used to simulate the transport of the resulting products within the experimental setups of the above-mentioned facilities. The angular distribution of ion release, possible target choices and target-to-beam-dump distances are discussed. peerReviewed
Nature of seniority symmetry breaking in the semimagic nucleus $^{94}Ru$
Physical review / C 105(3), L031304 (2022). doi:10.1103/PhysRevC.105.L031304
Radioactive Beams for Image-Guided Particle Therapy : The BARB Experiment at GSI
Several techniques are under development for image-guidance in particle therapy. Positron (β+) emission tomography (PET) is in use since many years, because accelerated ions generate positron-emitting isotopes by nuclear fragmentation in the human body. In heavy ion therapy, a major part of the PET signals is produced by β+-emitters generated via projectile fragmentation. A much higher intensity for the PET signal can be obtained using β+-radioactive beams directly for treatment. This idea has always been hampered by the low intensity of the secondary beams, produced by fragmentation of the primary, stable beams. With the intensity upgrade of the SIS-18 synchrotron and the isotopic separati…
The FRS Ion Catcher
At the FRS Ion Catcher at GSI, projectile and fission fragments are produced at relativistic energies, separated in-flight, range-focused, slowed down and thermalized in a cryogenic stopping cell. A multiple-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer (MR-TOF-MS) is used to perform direct mass measurements and to provide an isobarically clean beam for further experiments, such as mass-selected decay spectroscopy. A versatile RF quadrupole transport and diagnostics unit guides the ions from the stopping cell to the MR-TOF-MS, provides differential pumping, ion identification and includes reference ion sources. The FRS Ion Catcher serves as a test facility for the Low-Energy Branch of the Sup…
Opportunities for Fundamental Physics Research with Radioactive Molecules
Molecules containing short-lived, radioactive nuclei are uniquely positioned to enable a wide range of scientific discoveries in the areas of fundamental symmetries, astrophysics, nuclear structure, and chemistry. Recent advances in the ability to create, cool, and control complex molecules down to the quantum level, along with recent and upcoming advances in radioactive species production at several facilities around the world, create a compelling opportunity to coordinate and combine these efforts to bring precision measurement and control to molecules containing extreme nuclei. In this manuscript, we review the scientific case for studying radioactive molecules, discuss recent atomic, mo…
First spatial separation of a heavy ion isomeric beam with a multiple-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer
Physics letters / B 744, 137 - 141 (2015). doi:10.1016/j.physletb.2015.03.047
Dawning of the N=32 shell closure seen through precision mass measurements of neutron-rich titanium isotopes
A precision mass investigation of the neutron-rich titanium isotopes 51 − 55 Ti was performed at TRIUMF’s Ion Trap for Atomic and Nuclear science (TITAN). The range of the measurements covers the N = 32 shell closure, and the overall uncertainties of the 52 − 55 Ti mass values were significantly reduced. Our results conclusively establish the existence of the weak shell effect at N = 32 , narrowing down the abrupt onset of this shell closure. Our data were compared with state-of-the-art ab initio shell model calculations which, despite very successfully describing where the N = 32 shell gap is strong, overpredict its strength and extent in titanium and heavier isotones. These measurements a…
A Novel Method for the Measurement of Half-Lives and Decay Branching Ratios of Exotic Nuclei
A novel method for simultaneous measurement of masses, Q-values, isomer excitation energies, half-lives and decay branching ratios of exotic nuclei has been demonstrated. The method includes first use of a stopping cell as an ion trap, combining containment of precursors and decay-recoils for variable durations in a cryogenic stopping cell (CSC), and afterwards the identification and counting of them by a multiple-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer (MR-TOF-MS). Feasibility has been established by recording the decay and growth of $^{216}$Po and $^{212}$Pb (alpha decay) and of $^{119m2}$Sb (t$_{1/2}$ = 850$\pm$90 ms) and $^{119g}$Sb (isomer transition), obtaining half-lives and bran…
Mass and half-life measurements of neutron-deficient iodine isotopes
The European physical journal / A 56(5), 143 (2020). doi:10.1140/epja/s10050-020-00153-5
Removal of molecular contamination in low-energy RIBs by the isolation-dissociation-isolation method
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research / B 463, 324 - 326 (2020). doi:10.1016/j.nimb.2019.04.072
First experimental results of a cryogenic stopping cell with short-lived, heavy uranium fragments produced at 1000 MeV/u
A cryogenic stopping cell (CSC) has been commissioned with U-238 projectile fragments produced at 1000 MeV/u. The spatial isotopic separation in flight was performed with the FRS applying a monoenergetic degrader. For the first time, a stopping cell was operated with exotic nuclei at cryogenic temperatures (70 to 100K). A helium stopping gas density of up to 0.05mg/cm(3) was used, about two times higher than reached before for a stopping cell with RF ion repelling structures. An overall efficiency of up to 15%, a combined ion survival and extraction efficiency of about 50%, and extraction times of 24ms were achieved for heavy a-decaying uranium fragments. Mass spectrometry with a multiple-r…
The science case of the FRS Ion Catcher for FAIR Phase-0
The FRS Ion Catcher at GSI enables precision experiments with thermalized projectile and fission fragments. At the same time it serves as a test facility for the Low-Energy Branch of the Super-FRS at FAIR. The FRS Ion Catcher has been commissioned and its performance has been characterized in five experiments with 238U and 124Xe projectile and fission fragments produced at energies in the range from 300 to 1000 MeV/u. High and almost element-independent efficiencies for the thermalization of short-lived nuclides produced at relativistic energies have been obtained. High-accuracy mass measurements of more than 30 projectile and fission fragments have been performed with a multiple-reflection…
Radioactive Beams for Image-Guided Particle Therapy: The BARB Experiment at GSI
Several techniques are under development for image-guidance in particle therapy. Positron (β+) emission tomography (PET) is in use since many years, because accelerated ions generate positron-emitting isotopes by nuclear fragmentation in the human body. In heavy ion therapy, a major part of the PET signals is produced by β+-emitters generated via projectile fragmentation. A much higher intensity for the PET signal can be obtained using β+-radioactive beams directly for treatment. This idea has always been hampered by the low intensity of the secondary beams, produced by fragmentation of the primary, stable beams. With the intensity upgrade of the SIS-18 synchrotron and the isotopic separati…
Mass measurements of As, Se, and Br nuclei, and their implication on the proton-neutron interaction strength toward the N=Z line
Mass measurements of the $^{69}$As, $^{70,71}$Se and $^{71}$Br isotopes, produced via fragmentation of a $^{124}$Xe primary beam at the FRS at GSI, have been performed with the multiple-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer (MR-TOF-MS) of the FRS Ion Catcher with an unprecedented mass resolving power of almost 1,000,000. For the $^{69}$As isotope, this is the first direct mass measurement. A mass uncertainty of 22 keV was achieved with only 10 events. For the $^{70}$Se isotope, a mass uncertainty of 2.6 keV was obtained, corresponding to a relative accuracy of $\delta$m/m = 4.0$\times 10^{-8}$, with less than 500 events. The masses of the $^{71}$Se and $^{71}$Br isotopes were measured…
High-resolution, accurate multiple-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometry for short-lived, exotic nuclei of a few events in their ground and low-lying isomeric states
Physical review / C covering nuclear physics 99(6), 064313 (2019). doi:10.1103/PhysRevC.99.064313
Studying Gamow-Teller transitions and the assignment of isomeric and ground states at $N=50$
Direct mass measurements of neutron-deficient nuclides around the N=50 shell closure below $^{100}$Sn were performed at the FRS Ion Catcher (FRS-IC) at GSI, Germany. The nuclei were produced by projectile fragmentation of $^{124}$Xe, separated in the fragment separator FRS and delivered to the FRS-IC. The masses of 14 ground states and two isomers were measured with relative mass uncertainties down to 1×10−7 using the multiple-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer of the FRS-IC, including the first direct mass measurements of $^{98}$Cd and $^{97}$Rh. A new QEC=5437±67 keV was obtained for $^{98}$Cd, resulting in a summed Gamow-Teller (GT) strength for the five observed transitions (0+…