Speaker
Description
The MIRACLS collaboration at CERN–ISOLDE has developed a novel experimental platform that combines ion-bunch confinement in a multi-reflection time-of-flight (MR-ToF) device with high-resolution collinear laser spectroscopy (CLS). When ions are bouncing back and forth between between the two electrostatic mirrors of the MR-ToF device, the ion-laser interaction time is dramatically increased compared to conventional single-passage CLS, thereby allowing a significant boost in experimental sensitivity.
Exploiting the MIRACLS approach has recently enabled fluorescence-based CLS measurements of nuclear ground-state properties such as electromagnetic moments and charge radii of short-lived, low-yield radionuclides that were previously inaccessible. Moreover, it has facilitated the determination of the electron affinity (EA) in stable chlorine with a precision competitive to conventional methods, yet requiring a factor of 150,000 fewer ions. Such a high sensitivity paves the way for precision measurements of hitherto unknown EAs in heavy and superheavy elements.
To accomplish its scientific mission, the development of MIRACLS has both required and simulated a suite of technological innovations that serve a wide range of applications across rare isotope research. For instance, the need for fast ion beams in high-resolution CLS motivated the design of an MR-ToF device capable of operating at unprecedented beam energies, also offering a promising route to mitigate space-charge effects and thus to achieve highly selective, high-ion-flux mass separation. Moreover, the demanding emittance requirements of MIRACLS have driven advances in ion-beam cooling for radioactive ions, including Doppler laser, sympathetic, and cryogenic buffer-gas cooling at temperatures approaching liquid helium, thereby creating intriguing opportunities for next-generation precision experiments with radioactive ions and molecules.
This presentation will showcase the scientific achievements and technological innovations of the MIRACLS project, and explore how its methods and (reconfigured) instrumentation will in the near future be applied at ISOLDE and in related facilities worldwide.
