A precision mass investigation of the neutron-rich titanium isotopes ^{51-55}Ti was performed at TRIUMF's Ion Trap for Atomic and Nuclear science (TITAN). The range of the measurements covers the ...N=32 shell closure, and the overall uncertainties of the ^{52-55}Ti mass values were significantly reduced. Our results conclusively establish the existence of the weak shell effect at N=32, narrowing down the abrupt onset of this shell closure. Our data were compared with state-of-the-art ab initio shell model calculations which, despite very successfully describing where the N=32 shell gap is strong, overpredict its strength and extent in titanium and heavier isotones. These measurements also represent the first scientific results of TITAN using the newly commissioned multiple-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer, substantiated by independent measurements from TITAN's Penning trap mass spectrometer.
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•A new versatile probability distribution function called “hyper-EMG” is presented.•Modeling of asymmetric MR-TOF mass spectra using the hyper-EMG is demonstrated.•Peak shape is ...precisely modeled over 5 orders of magnitude in abundance.•Hyper-EMG outperforms the common peak shape models in case of overlapping peaks.•Improved mass and abundance values are obtained for overlapping peaks in MR-TOF-MS.
A new probability distribution function (PDF) called hyper-Exponentially Modified Gaussian (hyper-EMG) is introduced for the analysis of high-resolution spectra from multiple-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometers. The hyper-EMG consists of a central Gaussian distribution modified by multiple exponential tails with different strengths at one or both sides. The basic statistical properties of the new PDF are given and the analysis of mass spectra containing separated and overlapping peaks is presented. The main requirement is to accurately determine the positions and areas of the individual mass peaks. From the distances of positions the mass values can be determined, from the areas the population of different ground and isomeric states can be obtained. The hyper-EMG has been applied to high-resolution time and mass spectra characterized by mass resolving powers of 140,000 and 520,000 obtained with Cs+133 and K+39 ions, respectively. From the measured mass distribution of K+39 ions, an overlapping distribution of two peaks with an area ratio of 1:10 and a mass difference of 2.6ppm (parts-per-million) is generated and analyzed. The results reveal significant advantages of the new PDF for the evaluation of overlapping distributions for accurate mass and area determinations compared with commonly used PDFs which are more than one order of magnitude less accurate. It is obvious that the hyper-EMG can be favorably applied also to other fields.
TRIUMF’s Ion Trap for Atomic and Nuclear science (TITAN) has specialized in fast Penning Trap mass spectrometry of very short-lived radioactive isotopes. The facility has been upgraded with a ...Multiple-Reflection Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (MR-TOF-MS) to continue its quest towards more exotic nuclides, which are critical for our understanding of nuclear structure effects far from the valley of beta stability and for the nucleosynthesis of heavy elements in explosive astrophysical environments. In this publication, we discuss the implementation, operation and performance of TITAN’s MR-TOF-MS as a stand-alone high-precision mass spectrometer and as an isobar separator. By using the novel mass-selective re-trapping technique for the isobar separation, the MR-TOF-MS can consecutively perform separation and mass measurement of the same ion population, acting as its own isobar separator. The device boosts the dynamic range and reach of the TITAN facility by several orders of magnitude. The MR-TOF-MS reaches a high mass resolving power (m/Δm∼400000), high precision and mass accuracy (δm/m<10−7), is fast (common cycle time 20ms), shows high sensitivity and very large dynamic range (ion of interest to contaminant ratios of up to 1 to 106).
In this paper, the major upgrades and technical improvements of the buffer gas handling system for the cryogenic stopping cell of the FRS Ion Catcher at GSI/FAIR (in Darmstadt, Germany) are ...described. The upgrades include implementation of new gas lines and gas purifiers to achieve a higher buffer gas cleanliness for a more efficient extraction of reactive ions as well as suppression of the molecular background ionized in the stopping cell. Furthermore, additional techniques have been implemented for improved monitoring and quantification of the purity of the helium buffer gas.
Novel device to study double-alpha decay at the FRS Ion Catcher Varga, L.; Wilsenach, H.; Hall, O. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
06/2024, Letnik:
1063
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
A novel system has been developed to detect simultaneous double-alpha emission from purified and weightless sources. The system includes the collection of 224Ra low-energy recoils in purified helium ...buffer gas from the decay of 228Th. The recoil products are thermalized and collected in a cryogenic buffer gas cell and extracted into an RF-ion guide for mass selection. The mass-separated ions are implanted at low kinetic energy into a thin carbon foil placed between two large-area double-sided silicon strip detectors to observe correlated alpha-particle emission. The apparatus is described in detail, including insights into its experimental performance.
At the FRS Ion Catcher (FRS-IC), projectile and fission fragments are produced at relativistic energies, separated in-flight, energy-bunched, slowed down, and thermalized in the ultra-pure helium ...gas-filled cryogenic stopping cell (CSC). Thermalized nuclei are extracted from the CSC using a combination of DC and RF electric fields and gas flow. This CSC also serves as the prototype for the CSC of the Super-FRS, where exotic nuclei will be produced at unprecedented rates making it possible to go towards the extremes of the nuclear chart. Therefore, it is essential to efficiently extract thermalized exotic nuclei from the CSC under high beam rate conditions, in order to use the rare exotic nuclei, which come as cocktail beams. The dependence of the extraction efficiency on the intensity of the impinging beam into the CSC was studied with a primary beam of 238U and its fragments. Tests were done with two different versions of the DC electrode structure inside the cryogenic chamber, the standard 1 m long and a short 0.5 m long DC electrode systems. In contrast to the rate capability of 104 ions/s with the long DC electrode system, results show no extraction efficiency loss up to the rate of 2 × 105 ions/s with the new short DC electrode. This order of magnitude increase of the rate capability paves the way for new experiments at the FRS-IC, including studies of exotic nuclei with in-cell multi-nucleon transfer reactions. The results further validate the design concept of the CSC of the Super-FRS, which was developed to effectively manage beams of even higher intensities.
•An overview of the FRS Ion Catcher experiment at GSI is given.•The FRS Ion Catcher consists of the FRS, a cryogenic stopping cell, an RF quadrupole-based beam transport and diagnostics unit and a ...multiple-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer.•Off-line tests of the stopping cell with 219Rn ions.•First on-line operation of a stopping cell for exotic nuclei at cryogenic temperatures.•First mass measurements of heavy projectile fragments using a multiple-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer.
At the FRS Ion Catcher at GSI, projectile and fission fragments are produced at relativistic energies, separated in-flight, range-focused, slowed down and thermalized in a cryogenic stopping cell. A multiple-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer (MR-TOF-MS) is used to perform direct mass measurements and to provide an isobarically clean beam for further experiments, such as mass-selected decay spectroscopy. A versatile RF quadrupole transport and diagnostics unit guides the ions from the stopping cell to the MR-TOF-MS, provides differential pumping, ion identification and includes reference ion sources. The FRS Ion Catcher serves as a test facility for the Low-Energy Branch of the Super-FRS at the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR), where the cryogenic stopping cell and the MR-TOF-MS will be key devices for the research with stopped projectile and fission fragments that will be performed with the experiments MATS and LaSpec. Off-line tests of the stopping cell yield a combined ion survival and extraction efficiency for 219Rn ions of about 30% and an extraction time of about 25ms. The stopping cell and the MR-TOF-MS were commissioned on-line as part of the FRS Ion Catcher. For the first time, a stopping cell for exotic nuclei was operated on-line at cryogenic temperatures. Using a gas density almost two times higher than ever reached before for a stopping cell with RF ion repelling structures, various 238U projectile fragments were thermalized and extracted with very high efficiency. Direct mass measurements of projectile fragments were performed with the MR-TOF-MS, among them the nuclide 213Rn with a half-life of 19.5ms only.
The masses of exotic nuclei can be measured in ion storage rings by determination of their revolution time in the ring. At the current FRS-Experimental Storage Ring (ESR) facility one method to ...perform such measurements is the isochronous mass spectrometry (IMS). With the IMS masses of exotic nuclei with lifetimes as short as a few tens of can be measured. To determine these masses the revolution time of the ions in the isochronous ring is measured by a time-of-flight (TOF) detector. To achieve a high mass resolution the performance of the detector is crucial and has been improved significantly. The future Collector Ring (CR) at FAIR will be different compared to the current ESR not only in circumference but also in terms of beam dimensions and intensities. Based on extensive simulations, a new double detector system has been designed for improved IMS at the CR. It is adapted to the beam emittance of the ions in the CR and applies two TOF detectors so that the velocity can be measured in addition for every individual ion. This allows one to obtain correct mass values even for ions which are not perfectly isochronous. Improvements of almost a factor 2 for the timing accuracy with at least 95% detection efficiency will be achieved, even though the active area of the detector had to be increased by a factor of four to adapt to the larger emittance in the CR.
A cryogenic stopping cell for stopping energetic radioactive ions and extracting them as a low energy beam was developed. This first ever cryogenically operated stopping cell serves as prototype ...device for the Low-Energy Branch of the Super-FRS at FAIR. The cell has a stopping volume that is 1m long and 25cm in diameter. Ions are guided by a DC field along the length of the stopping cell and by a combined RF and DC fields provided by an RF carpet at the exit-hole side. The ultra-high purity of the stopping gas required for optimum ion survival is reached by cryogenic operation. The design considerations and construction of the cryogenic stopping cell, as well as some performance characteristics, are described in detail. Special attention is given to the cryogenic aspects in the design and construction of the stopping cell and the cryocooler-based cooling system. The cooling system allows the operation of the stopping cell at any desired temperature between about 70K and room temperature. The cooling system performance in realistic on-line conditions at the FRS Ion Catcher Facility at GSI is discussed. A temperature of 110K at which efficient ion survival was observed is obtained after 10h of cooling. A minimum temperature of the stopping gas of 72K was reached. The expertise gained from the design, construction and performance of the prototype cryogenic stopping cell has allowed the development of a final version for the Low-Energy Branch of the Super-FRS to proceed.
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