Speaker
Description
A host of techniques have been developed to study the nuclear properties of exotic isotopes produced at radioactive ion beam (RIB) facilities. One such technique is collinear laser spectroscopy (CLS), which provides a nuclear model-independent way of extracting observables such as nuclear charge radii, electromagnetic moments, and spins from the hyperfine spectrum of a particular atomic species.
The Multi Ion Reflection Apparatus for CLS (MIRACLS) is a new experimental setup in the ISOLDE RIB facility at CERN which aims to improve the sensitivity of conventional CLS by conducting it in a high-energy (> 10 keV) multi-reflection time-of-flight (MR-ToF) device [1, 2]. This type of ion trap utilizes two electrostatic mirrors to reflect ion bunches back and forth for several thousands of revolutions. In this configuration, we gain a sensitivity boost compared to conventional CLS since ion bunches are “recycled” after each revolution. As a result, exotic radionuclides with very low production yields become accessible, such as the magnesium isotope $^{34}$Mg, which will be the first physics case of MIRACLS and will give fresh insights on the so-called “island of inversion” around $^{32}$Mg.
Besides CLS, the high-energy MR-ToF device at MIRACLS can also be used for highly selective, high-flux mass separation to provide purified beams of radioactive isotopes [3]. These pure beams are a requirement for other experimental programs such as PUMA, which aims to exploit antiprotons to probe the surface effects of atomic nuclei such as halo nucleons or neutron skins [4].
This contribution will describe the operating principles of the Paul trap for ion beam preparation and the MR-ToF device at MIRACLS, discuss the latest commissioning results of the MIRACLS experiment, and give an outlook to the planned measurement of the charge radius of $^{34}$Mg.
References
[1] Simon Sels et al. “First steps in the development of the multi ion reflection apparatus for collinear laser spectroscopy”. In: NIMA B 463 (2020), pp.310-314.
[2] F.M. Maier et al. “Simulation studies of a 30-keV MR-ToF device for highly sensitive collinear laser spectroscopy”. In: NIMA A 1048 (2023).
[3] F.M. Maier et al. “Increased beam energy as a pathway towards a highly selective and high-flux MR-ToF mass separator”. In: NIMA A 1056 (2023).
[4] T Aumann et al. “PUMA, antiProton unstable matter annihilation". In: Eur. Phys. J. A 58.5 (2022), p. 88.
