Resonant laser ionization and spectroscopy are widely used techniques at radioactive ion beam facilities to produce pure beams of exotic nuclei and measure the shape, size, spin and electromagnetic ...multipole moments of these nuclei. However, in such measurements it is difficult to combine a high efficiency with a high spectral resolution. Here we demonstrate the on-line application of atomic laser ionization spectroscopy in a supersonic gas jet, a technique suited for high-precision studies of the ground- and isomeric-state properties of nuclei located at the extremes of stability. The technique is characterized in a measurement on actinium isotopes around the N=126 neutron shell closure. A significant improvement in the spectral resolution by more than one order of magnitude is achieved in these experiments without loss in efficiency.
The Geiger–Nuttall (GN) law relates the partial α-decay half-life with the energy of the escaping α particle and contains for every isotopic chain two experimentally determined coefficients. The ...expression is supported by several phenomenological approaches, however its coefficients lack a fully microscopic basis. In this paper we will show that: (1) the empirical coefficients that appear in the GN law have a deep physical meaning, and (2) the GN law is successful within the restricted experimental data sets available so far, but is not valid in general. We will show that, when the dependence of logarithm values of the α formation probability on the neutron number is not linear or constant, the GN law is broken. For the α decay of neutron-deficient nucleus 186Po, the difference between the experimental half-life and that predicted by the GN law is as large as one order of magnitude.
In rare cases, the removal of a single proton (Z) or neutron (N) from an atomic nucleus leads to a dramatic shape change. These instances are crucial for understanding the components of the nuclear ...interactions that drive deformation. The mercury isotopes (Z = 80) are a striking example1,2: their close neighbours, the lead isotopes (Z = 82), are spherical and steadily shrink with decreasing N. The even-mass (A = N + Z) mercury isotopes follow this trend. The odd-mass mercury isotopes 181,183,185Hg, however, exhibit noticeably larger charge radii. Due to the experimental difficulties of probing extremely neutron-deficient systems, and the computational complexity of modelling such heavy nuclides, the microscopic origin of this unique shape staggering has remained unclear. Here, by applying resonance ionization spectroscopy, mass spectrometry and nuclear spectroscopy as far as 177Hg, we determine 181Hg as the shape-staggering endpoint. By combining our experimental measurements with Monte Carlo shell model calculations, we conclude that this phenomenon results from the interplay between monopole and quadrupole interactions driving a quantum phase transition, for which we identify the participating orbitals. Although shape staggering in the mercury isotopes is a unique and localized feature in the nuclear chart, it nicely illustrates the concurrence of single-particle and collective degrees of freedom at play in atomic nuclei.
New approaches to perform efficient and selective step-wise resonance ionization spectroscopy (RIS) of radioactive atoms in different types of supersonic gas jets are proposed. This novel application ...results in a major expansion of the in-gas laser ionization and spectroscopy (IGLIS) method developed at KU Leuven. Implementation of resonance ionization in the supersonic gas jet allows to increase the spectral resolution by one order of magnitude in comparison with the currently performed in-gas-cell ionization spectroscopy. Properties of supersonic beams, obtained from the de Laval-, the spike-, and the free jet nozzles that are important for the reduction of the spectral line broadening mechanisms in cold and low density environments are discussed. Requirements for the laser radiation and for the vacuum pumping system are also examined. Finally, first results of high-resolution spectroscopy in the supersonic free jet are presented for the 327.4nm 3d104s 2S1/2→ 3d104p 2P1/2 transition in the stable 63Cu isotope using an amplified single mode laser radiation.
A very exotic process of β-delayed fission of 180Tl is studied in detail by using resonant laser ionization with subsequent mass separation at ISOLDE (CERN). In contrast to common expectations, the ...fission-fragment mass distribution of the post-β-decay daughter nucleus 180Hg (N/Z=1.25) is asymmetric. This asymmetry is more surprising since a mass-symmetric split of this extremely neutron-deficient nucleus would lead to two 90Zr fragments, with magic N=50 and semimagic Z=40. This is a new type of asymmetric fission, not caused by large shell effects related to fragment magic proton and neutron numbers, as observed in the actinide region. The newly measured branching ratio for β-delayed fission of 180Tl is 3.6(7) × 10(-3)%, approximately 2 orders of magnitude larger than in an earlier study.
The in-gas laser ionization and spectroscopy (IGLIS) technique is used to produce and to investigate short-lived radioactive isotopes at on-line ion beam facilities. In this technique, the nuclear ...reaction products recoiling out of a thin target are thermalized and neutralized in a high-pressure noble gas, resonantly ionized by the laser beams in a two-step process, and then extracted from the ion source to be finally accelerated and mass separated. Resonant ionization of radioactive species in the supersonic gas jet ensures very high spectral resolution because of essential reduction of broadening mechanisms. To obtain the maximum efficiency and the best spectral resolution, properties of the supersonic jet and the laser beams must be optimized. To perform these studies a new off-line IGLIS laboratory, including a new high-repetition-rate laser system and a dedicated off-line mass separator, has been commissioned. In this article, the specifications of the different components necessary to achieve optimum conditions in laser-spectroscopy studies of radioactive beams using IGLIS are discussed and the results of simulations are presented.
There is strong circumstantial evidence that certain heavy, unstable atomic nuclei are 'octupole deformed', that is, distorted into a pear shape. This contrasts with the more prevalent rugby-ball ...shape of nuclei with reflection-symmetric, quadrupole deformations. The elusive octupole deformed nuclei are of importance for nuclear structure theory, and also in searches for physics beyond the standard model; any measurable electric-dipole moment (a signature of the latter) is expected to be amplified in such nuclei. Here we determine electric octupole transition strengths (a direct measure of octupole correlations) for short-lived isotopes of radon and radium. Coulomb excitation experiments were performed using accelerated beams of heavy, radioactive ions. Our data on (220)Rn and (224)Ra show clear evidence for stronger octupole deformation in the latter. The results enable discrimination between differing theoretical approaches to octupole correlations, and help to constrain suitable candidates for experimental studies of atomic electric-dipole moments that might reveal extensions to the standard model.
The underlying structure of low-lying collective bands of atomic nuclei is discussed from a novel perspective on the interplay between single-particle and collective degrees of freedom, by utilizing ...state-of-the-art configuration interaction calculations on heavy nuclei. Besides the multipole components of the nucleon-nucleon interaction that drive collective modes forming those bands, the monopole component is shown to control the resistance against such modes. The calculated structure of ^{154}Sm corresponds to the coexistence between prolate and triaxial shapes, while that of ^{166}Er exhibits a deformed shape with a strong triaxial instability. Both findings differ from traditional views based on β/γ vibrations. The formation of collective bands is shown to be facilitated from a self-organization mechanism.
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