MIRACLS: A novel approach for Collinear Laser Spectroscopy

by Varvara Lagaki (Ernst Moritz Arndt Universitaet (DE))

Wednesday 29 May 2019, 14:15 → 15:00 Europe/Zurich

Collinear laser spectroscopy (CLS) is a very effective tool for studying nuclear ground state proper-
ties of short-lived radionuclides such as nuclear spins, electromagnetic moments and mean-square
charge radii far from stability with high precision and accuracy. Performing CLS with fast
beams (>30 keV) provides an excellent spectral resolution approaching the natural linewidth.
However, its ?fluorescence-light detection limits its successful application to nuclides with yields of
more than several 100 to 10,000 ions/s, depending on the specific case and spectroscopic transition.
Hence, in order to explore the most exotic nuclides far away from stability, more sensitive methods
are needed. For this reason, the novel MIRACLS project at ISOLDE/CERN aims to combine
the high resolution of conventional ?fluorescence based CLS with a high experimental sensitivity,
enhanced by a factor of 30 to 600. Within MIRACLS, this will be achieved by extending the
effective observation time over a radionuclide's entire lifetime when the rare ions are stored in an
Electrostatic Ion Beam Trap, also called Multi- Reflection Time-of-Flight (MR-ToF) device.
A proof-of-principle apparatus, operating at 2 keV beam energy, has been assembled at CERN
ISOLDE with the goal of demonstrating the MIRACLS concept, to benchmark simulations that
are employed to design a future device operating at 30 keV and to further develop the technique.
This talk will introduce the MIRACLS concept and present the results in ions of stable
magnesium and calcium isotopes which allow the systematic optimisation of the MR-ToF operation
for CLS. An outlook towards further developments will be given which includes the design of a 30
keV MR-ToF device, a necessity for the high resolution of CLS