The Multi Ion Reflection Apparatus for Collinear Laser Spectroscopy (MIRACLS) is a novel technique to increase the sensitivity of high-precision collinear laser spectroscopy (CLS). To access exotic short-lived radionuclides with low production yields, MIRACLS performs CLS in a Multi-Reflection Time-of-Flight (MR-ToF) device where ion bunches bounce back and forth between two electrostatic...
Many experiments at radioactive ion beam (RIB) facilities suffer from isobaric contaminations, i.e. unwanted ions of similar mass. Over the years, Multi-Reflection Time-of-Flight (MR-ToF) devices have gained remarkable attention for mass separation of short-lived radionuclides at RIB facilities throughout the world [1]. They exceed mass resolving powers m/Δm of $10^5$ within (some tens of)...
Collinear resonance ionization spectroscopy of stable $^{64, 66, 67,68, 70}$ Zn isotopes
Y. C. Liu,$^1$ X. F. Yang,$^1$ S. W. Bai,$^1$ J. Reilly,$^2$ T. E. Cocolios,$^3$ K. T. Flanagan,$^{2,4}$ R. F. Garcia Ruiz,$^5$ F. P. Gustafsson,$^3$ J. G. Li,$^6$ M. X. Ma,$^6$ G. Neyens,$^{3,7}$ C. M. Ricketts,$^2$ A. R. Vernon,$^5$ Q. J. Wang,$^8$
*$^1$ School of Physics and State Key Laboratory...
The resonance ionization laser ion source (RILIS) is the principal ion source at ISOLDE, providing efficient and element-selective ion creation by laser radiation tuned to unique electronic transitions of the atoms of interest. The laser system’s 10 kHz pulsed operation imprints a respective bunch structure on the extracted ion beam. This characteristic can be used for partial suppression of...
The Multi Ion Reflection Apparatus for Collinear Laser Spectroscopy (MIRACLS) is a new experiment in the ISOLDE facility at CERN which aims to conduct collinear laser spectroscopy (CLS) on exotic nuclei with low production yields by exploiting a 30-keV multi-reflection time-of-flight (MR-ToF) device [2, 3, 5]. Ions bunches prepared by MIRACLS' Paul trap are sent into the MR-ToF instrument,...
The CERN-MEDICIS facility aim at producing exotic nuclear isotopes with high purity and specific activity, for medical application. The collection of the radioisotope of interest is performed either with a target irradiated by a 1.4 GeV proton beam from CERN’s Proton Booster, or with an externally irradiated target provided by an external institution.
The Resonance Ionization Laser Ion...
The solid-state physics (SSP) collaboration at ISOLDE has a long history of investigating crystal structure, phase changes and magnetic behavior of nanostructures by implanting specific radioactive isotopes and recording their decay to obtain physical information on the atomic scale, using hyper-fine techniques such as perturbed angular correlations (PAC) spectroscopy or emission Mößbauer...
Laser-assisted decay spectroscopy of 178Au at the ISOLDE Decay Station
C. A. A. Page *
University of York (UK).
In the region around the Z=82 shell closure and the N = 104 midshell, competition between spherical and deformed configurations leads to the phenomenon of shape coexistence [1]. Previous work (e.g. [2]) has sought to understand the structure of isotopes of gold (Z=79) to...
With the advancement of spectroscopic techniques at radioactive beam facilities, the spectroscopy of radioactive molecules has been achieved in the past few years at ISOLDE using the Collinear Resonance Ionization Spectroscopy (CRIS) experiment [1].
Thanks to its strong electric field gradient and the rich electronic, vibrational, and rotational structure inherent in molecules, radium...
An ISOL facility with a primary beam of up to 500 μA - 100 MeV protons, is currently being designed in SCK CEN (Belgium) to start operation in 2028. Target and ion source research have been, since long, research subjects at SCK CEN in order to develop the radioactive ion beams to be available at ISOL@MYRRHA.
SCK CEN has a unique and varied panoply of laboratories equipped with advanced...
The neutron-rich Al isotopes provide an excellent opportunity to investigate the evolution of nuclear structure crossing the $N=20$ shell closure and the transition into the island of inversion. Indeed, the Al isotopic chain, with $Z = 13$, is located between spherical silicon [1] ($Z = 14, N = 19$) and deformed magnesium ($Z = 12, N = 21$) [2], $^{32}$Mg being the center of the $N = 20$...
Understanding the nucleus and its structure relies on exploring the ground-state properties of nuclei far from stability. Many of these properties, such as the spin, nuclear electromagnetic moments and charge radii, can be measured with laser spectroscopy in a model-independent way. On-line laser spectroscopy provides access to these properties of long-lived states (>10ms). One region of...
Gamma-MRI is an EU-funded project which aims at the development of a new medical imaging modality, able to combine the high resolution of already established MRI techniques with the high sensitivity provided by SPECT gamma detection method. The nuclear species selected for this new technique are Xenon isomers (129mXe, 131mXe, 133mXe), since they are biologically inert, can be polarised, and...
The recent advances in the development of semiconductor devices based on nano-crystal technology have led to numerous applications in high-tech electronic and optoelectronic devices including, transistors, light emitting diodes, solar cells, photodetectors, thermoelectrics, and phase change memory cells. Among the potential material for such applications are the transition metal oxides, such...
The thick-target ISOL (Isotope mass Separation OnLine) method provides beams of more than 1000 radionuclides of 74 elements. The method is optimized for operation at high temperatures of up to ca. 2000 C. Recently, an interest in radioactive molecules, e.g., for the study of Beyond Standard Model physics was emerging [1]. However, promising candidates (like RaOH) are expected to decompose at...
In the search for $\mathcal{P,T}$-odd effects, polar molecules can exhibit orders of magnitude larger enhancements than atoms [1,2] due to large internal fields. Choosing molecules, however, imposes additional challenges, such as the need of molecular instead of atomic theory or an analysis of congested rovibronic spectra. The initial difficulty is the search for suitable systems with large...
A unique feature of thorium-229 is its isomeric first excited state with an exceptionally low excitation energy, proposed as a candidate for future nuclear optical clocks serving as a versatile quantum sensor for fundamental physics [1]. A novel approach to populate the isomeric state in radioactive decay using the beta decay of actinium-229 is studied at ISOLDE as an alternative to the...
Nuclei in the rare-earth region, especially the samarium (Sm) isotopes, exhibits a variety of shapes. The aim of the present work it to test the theoretical calculations predicting the $^{140}$Sm isotope to be a transitional nuclei in between a spherical and a deformed shape [1].
Relativistic Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov (HFB) calculations find a smooth transition from spherical $^{144}$Sm to...
Studies of exotic nuclei have revealed numerous unexpected structure phenomena, extending our knowledge of nuclear forces and nuclear quantum many-body systems [1,2,3]. The scandium isotopes, with one valence proton added in the f7/2 orbit above the Z = 20 shell closure in the shell-model picture, are expected to be sensitive to the single-particle behavior, and nucleon-nucleon correlations....
$\beta$-NMR has proven its capabilities and advantages in the world of nuclear spectroscopy: Not only does it open the door to high precision measurements of nuclear properties, but it also facilitates investigations of unstable, short-lived isotopes, otherwise inaccessible to conventional NMR. Additionally, $\beta$-NMR allows for real-time observations of chemical processes, such as...
The evolution of neutron single-particle properties and their role in the onset of deformation towards N = 60 in the neutron rich Kr isotopes has been studied via the one-neutron transfer reactions $^{92,94}$Kr(d,p). These were performed in inverse kinematics at an energy of ~8.0 MeV/u using the ISOLDE Solenoidal Spectrometer (ISS).
In the A = 100 region, a dramatic shape change observed...
Resonant laser ionization is an efficient and highly selective method for producing radioisotopes. In the laser ion source of the ISOLDE – RILIS (Resonance Ionization Laser Ion Source), the laser interaction region is inside a metal tube, the so-called “hot cavity” which is heated to temperatures of up to 2200 degrees Celsius. In addition to providing a longitudinally confining electrostatic...
Tunable, single-frequency laser sources are a great tool for high-selectivity spectroscopy, allowing hyperfine structure and isotope shift measurements. In this study we demonstrate monolithic diamond resonators as a narrow linewidth laser source, suitable for high-resolution spectroscopy. The Stokes field from the diamond resonator at a wavelength of 433.9 nm and linewidth of 170 MHz was used...
Laser resonance ionization spectroscopy in the ion source coupled directly to the isotope production target has been proven to be a highly sensitive tool for nuclear structure investigations on isotopes with low production and extraction yields [1]. While the efficiency of this technique is unrivalled, the spectral resolution is ultimately limited by Doppler broadening. At the ion source...
