“A New Laser Ablation Ion Source for ISOLTRAP and In-Source Laser Spectroscopy of Mercury and Bismuth Isotopes”

by Lukas Nies

Thursday 22 Apr 2021, 14:15 → 15:15 Europe/Zurich

CERN

The ISOLTRAP mass spectrometer at ISOLDE/CERN comprises various ion traps for precision mass spectrometry of short-lived radioactive species. Systematic studies of the measurement techniques are essential to further increase the reachable precision. Previously, a Laser Ablation Ion Source (LAS) injecting carbon clusters into the Penning trap system was used for these studies. However, implementing a Multi-Reflection Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer / Mass-Separator (MR-ToF MS) has necessitated a relocation and redesign of the LAS. Located on a high-voltage platform in front of ISOLTRAP's RFQ buncher, cooled laser-ablated ions will be available for each of ISOLTRAP's mass-measurements techniques (MR-ToF MS, ToF-ICR, PI-ICR).  In this contribution, the status of the new LAS for ISOLTRAP will be reported.
            Furthermore, the analysis of in-source laser spectroscopy data taken by ISOLTRAP in collaboration with the Windmill team will be presented. This analysis consists of the extraction and normalization of hyperfine-structure (HFS) spectra of short-lived bismuth isotopes. Additionally, mass measurements of neutron-rich Mercury isotopes south of the doubly-magic 208Pb will be presented. The results were found to be in excellent agreement with the AME16 and improve the precision by a factor of about 1.5-5, thus providing independent confirmation.