MATS and LaSpec: High-precision experiments using ion traps and lasers at FAIR

Rodríguez D, Blaum K, Nörtershäuser W, Ahammed M, Algora A, Audi G, Äystö J, Beck D, Bender M, Billowes J, Block M, Böhm C, Bollen G, Brodeur M, Brunner T, Bushaw BA, Cakirli RB, Campbell P, Cano-Ott D, Cortés G, López-Urrutia JR, Das P, Dax A, De A, Delheij P, Dickel T, Dilling J, Eberhardt K, Eliseev S, Ettenauer S, Flanagan KT, Ferrer R, García-Ramos JE, Gartzke E, Geissel H, George S, Geppert C, Gómez-Hornillos MB, Gusev Y, Habs D, Heenen PH, Heinz S, Herfurth F, Herlert A, Hobein M, Huber G, Huyse M, Jesch C, Jokinen A, Kester O, Ketelaer J, Kolhinen V, Koudriavtsev I, Kowalska M, Krämer J, Kreim S, Krieger A, Kühl T, Lallena AM, Lapierre A, Le Blanc F, Litvinov YA, Lunney D, Martínez T, Marx G, Matos M, Minaya-Ramirez E, Moore I, Nagy S, Naimi S, Neidherr D, Nesterenko D, Neyens G, Novikov YN, Petrick M, Plaß WR, Popov A, Quint W, Ray A, Reinhard PG, Repp J, Roux C, Rubio B, Sánchez R, Schabinger B, Scheidenberger C, Schneider D, Schuch R, Schwarz S, Schweikhard L, Seliverstov M, Solders A, Suhonen M, Szerypo J, Taín JL, Thirolf PG, Ullrich J, van Duppen P, Vasiliev A, Vorobjev G, Weber C, Wendt K, Winkler M, Yordanov D, Ziegler F (2010)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2010

Journal

Book Volume: 183

Pages Range: 1-123

Journal Issue: 1

DOI: 10.1140/epjst/e2010-01231-2

Abstract

Nuclear ground state properties including mass, charge radii, spins and moments can be determined by applying atomic physics techniques such as Penning-trap based mass spectrometry and laser spectroscopy. The MATS and LaSpec setups at the low-energy beamline at FAIR will allow us to extend the knowledge of these properties further into the region far from stability. The mass and its inherent connection with the nuclear binding energy is a fundamental property of a nuclide, a unique "fingerprint". Thus, precise mass values are important for a variety of applications, ranging from nuclear-structure studies like the investigation of shell closures and the onset of deformation, tests of nuclear mass models and mass formulas, to tests of the weak interaction and of the Standard Model. The required relative accuracy ranges from 10^-5 to below 10^-8 for radionuclides, which most often have half-lives well below 1 s. Substantial progress in Penning trap mass spectrometry has made this method a prime choice for precision measurements on rare isotopes. The technique has the potential to provide high accuracy and sensitivity even for very short-lived nuclides. Furthermore, ion traps can be used for precision decay studies and offer advantages over existing methods. With MATS (Precision Measurements of very short-lived nuclei using an A_dvanced Trapping System for highly-charged ions) at FAIR we aim to apply several techniques to very short-lived radionuclides: High-accuracy mass measurements, in-trap conversion electron and alpha spectroscopy, and trap-assisted spectroscopy. The experimental setup of MATS is a unique combination of an electron beam ion trap for charge breeding, ion traps for beam preparation, and a high-precision Penning trap system for mass measurements and decay studies. For the mass measurements, MATS offers both a high accuracy and a high sensitivity. A relative mass uncertainty of 10^-9 can be reached by employing highly-charged ions and a non-destructive Fourier-Transform Ion-Cyclotron-Resonance (FT-ICR) detection technique on single stored ions. This accuracy limit is important for fundamental interaction tests, but also allows for the study of the fine structure of the nuclear mass surface with unprecedented accuracy, whenever required. The use of the FT-ICR technique provides true single ion sensitivity. This is essential to access isotopes that are produced with minimum rates which are very often the most interesting ones. Instead of pushing for highest accuracy, the high charge state of the ions can also be used to reduce the storage time of the ions, hence making measurements on even shorter-lived isotopes possible. Decay studies in ion traps will become possible with MATS. Novel spectroscopic tools for in-trap high-resolution conversion-electron and charged-particle spectroscopy from carrier-free sources will be developed, aiming e. g. at the measurements of quadrupole moments and E0 strengths. With the possibility of both high-accuracy mass measurements of the shortest-lived isotopes and decay studies, the high sensitivity and accuracy potential of MATS is ideally suited for the study of very exotic nuclides that will only be produced at the FAIR facility. Laser spectroscopy of radioactive isotopes and isomers is an efficient and model-independent approach for the determination of nuclear ground and isomeric state properties. Hyperfine structures and isotope shifts in electronic transitions exhibit readily accessible information on the nuclear spin, magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole moments as well as root-mean-square charge radii. The dependencies of the hyperfine splitting and isotope shift on the nuclear moments and mean square nuclear charge radii are well known and the theoretical framework for the extraction of nuclear parameters is well established. These extracted parameters provide fundamental information on the structure of nuclei at the limits of stability. Vital information on both bulk and valence nuclear properties are derived and an exceptional sensitivity to changes in nuclear deformation is achieved. Laser spectroscopy provides the only mechanism for such studies in exotic systems and uniquely facilitates these studies in a model-independent manner. The accuracy of laser-spectroscopic-determined nuclear properties is very high. Requirements concerning production rates are moderate; collinear spectroscopy has been performed with production rates as few as 100 ions per second and laser-desorption resonance ionization mass spectroscopy (combined with β-delayed neutron detection) has been achieved with rates of only a few atoms per second. This Technical Design Report describes a new Penning trap mass spectrometry setup as well as a number of complementary experimental devices for laser spectroscopy, which will provide a complete system with respect to the physics and isotopes that can be studied. Since MATS and LaSpec require high-quality low-energy beams, the two collaborations have a common beamline to stop the radioactive beam of in-flight produced isotopes and prepare them in a suitable way for transfer to the MATS and LaSpec setups, respectively. © 2010 EDP Sciences and Springer.

Authors with CRIS profile

Involved external institutions

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL) / Catholic University of Leuven Belgium (BE) Institut national de physique nucléaire et de physique des particules (IN2P3) France (FR) Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik (MPIK) / Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics Germany (DE) GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH Germany (DE) Saint Petersburg State University (SPbU) / Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет (СПбГУ) Russian Federation (RU) Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre India (IN) Stockholm University / Stockholms universitet Sweden (SE) Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) Germany (DE) Universidad de Granada Spain (ES) Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz (JGU) Germany (DE) Institute for Corpuscular Physics / Instituto de Física Corpuscular (IFIC) Spain (ES) University of Jyväskylä / Jyväskylän yliopisto Finland (FI) Université de Bordeaux France (FR) University of Manchester United Kingdom (GB) Michigan State University United States (USA) (US) Triumf Canada (CA) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory United States (USA) (US) Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (CIEMAT) Spain (ES) Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech (UPC) Spain (ES) Europäische Organisation für Kernforschung (CERN) Switzerland (CH) Raniganj Girls' College India (IN) Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen Germany (DE) University of Huelva / Universidad de Huelva Spain (ES) Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) / Free University of Brussels Belgium (BE) Universität Greifswald Germany (DE) Louisiana State University United States (USA) (US) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory United States (USA) (US)

How to cite

APA:

Rodríguez, D., Blaum, K., Nörtershäuser, W., Ahammed, M., Algora, A., Audi, G.,... Ziegler, F. (2010). MATS and LaSpec: High-precision experiments using ion traps and lasers at FAIR. European Physical Journal - Special Topics, 183(1), 1-123. https://dx.doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2010-01231-2

MLA:

Rodríguez, D., et al. "MATS and LaSpec: High-precision experiments using ion traps and lasers at FAIR." European Physical Journal - Special Topics 183.1 (2010): 1-123.

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