Precision Penning trap mass measurements on exotic ions: status and perspectives

Penning traps are powerful instruments for the precise and accurate mass determination of rare isotopes. At present, many Penning trap facilities installed at radioactive beam facilities provide key data for nuclear astrophysics, for the study of nuclear structure evolution far from stability, and the test of fundamental interactions. This article summarizes the present status and current limits in the field of high-precision Penning trap mass measurements on short-lived exotic ions.     

ISOLTRAP: An on-line Penning trap for mass spectrometry on short-lived nuclides

ISOLTRAP is a Penning trap mass spectrometer for high-precision mass measurements on short-lived nuclides installed at the on-line isotope separator ISOLDE at CERN. The masses of close to 300 radionuclides have been determined up to now. The applicability of Penning trap mass spectrometry to mass measurements of exotic nuclei has been extended considerably at ISOLTRAP by improving and developing this double Penning trap mass spectrometer over the past two decades. The accurate determination of nuclear binding energies far from stability includes nuclei that are produced at rates less than 100 ions/s and with half-lives well below 100ms. The mass-resolving power reaches 10⁷ corresponding to 10keV for medium heavy nuclei and the uncertainty of the resulting mass values has been pushed down to below 10^-8. The article describes technical developments achieved since 1996 and the present performance of ISOLTRAP.     

Nuclear structure studies of neutron-rich fission fragments performed at JYFLTRAP

The JYFLTRAP double Penning trap setup at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland has been used to perform a wide range of studies related to neutron-rich fission fragments that can be produced with the Ion Guide Isotope Separator On-Line (IGISOL) method. Experimental results from high-precision mass measurements and decay-spectroscopy measurements have allowed us to investigate the nuclear structure of exotic neutron-rich nuclei.     

原子核质量精密测量的研究进展

原子核质量的精密测量是原子核物理学的重要课题之一,它对探索奇特原子核的结构和性质、重元素核合成之谜等均具有重大意义.文章简要介绍了原子核质量高精度测量的两个主要设备——储存环和潘宁阱,并回顾了近年来原子核质量精密测量在核结构、元素核合成、新同核异能素等领域中的研究亮点,探讨原子核质量测量的发展趋势.     

基于有限元方法的离子俘获装置模拟计算

利用有限元程序ANSYS,开展潘宁离子俘获装置的电场模拟计算。基于电场数据,结合Runge_Kutta_Fehlberg方法进行潘宁装置在多种模式下的离子俘获过程模拟工作,得到了准确的离子俘获结果。并对实际条件下具有偏离理想情况电极分布的俘获装置进行了优化计算及电场分析,同样实现了离子俘获过程的准确模拟。有限元方法用于离子俘获装置的电场计算以及后续离子俘获过程模拟流程的建立,为类似的电势阱离子俘获装置建造运行提供有效的技术支持。     

Calculation of QED Effects in Hydrogen

Atomic mass differences are influenced by QED corrections, and a reliable understanding of these corrections is therefore of importance for the current and next generation of high-precision mass determinations based on Penning traps. We present a numerical evaluation of the self-energy correction, which is the dominant contribution to the Lamb shift, in the region of low nuclear charge. Our calculation is nonperturbative in the binding field and has a numerical uncertainty of 0.8Hz in atomic hydrogen for the ground state and of 1.0Hz for L-shell states (2S_1/2, 2P_1/2, and 2P_3/2). This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

High-accuracy mass spectrometry with stored ions

Like few other parameters, the mass of an atom, and its inherent connection with the atomic and nuclear binding energy is a fundamental property, a unique fingerprint of the atomic nucleus. Each nuclide comes with its own mass value different from all others. For short-lived exotic atomic nuclei the importance of its mass ranges from the verification of nuclear models to a test of the Standard Model, in particular with regard to the weak interaction and the unitarity of the Cabibbo–Kobayashi–Maskawa quark mixing matrix. In addition, accurate mass values are important for a variety of applications that extend beyond nuclear physics. Mass measurements on stable atoms now reach a relative uncertainty of about 10^-11${10}^{-11}$. This extreme accuracy contributes, among other things, to metrology, for example the determination of fundamental constants and a new definition of the kilogram, and to tests of quantum electrodynamics and fundamental charge, parity, and time reversal symmetry. The introduction of Penning traps and storage rings into the field of mass spectrometry has made this method a prime choice for high-accuracy measurements on short-lived and stable nuclides. This is reflected in the large number of traps in operation, under construction, or planned world-wide. With the development and application of proper cooling and detection methods the trapping technique has the potential to provide the highest sensitivity and accuracy, even for very short-lived nuclides far from stability. This review describes the basics and recent progress made in ion trapping, cooling, and detection for high-accuracy mass measurements with emphasis on Penning traps. Special attention is devoted to the applications of accurate mass values in different fields of physics.     

TITAN: an ion trap for accurate mass measurements of ms-half-life nuclides

The introduction of Paul traps, in particular linear radio-frequency quadrupoles in the early 2000s, has revolutionized the use of ion traps for probing the properties of radioactive nuclides. It opened the path to trapping all available nuclides, independent of their chemical properties. We present an overview of direct mass measurements of short-lived nuclides using TITAN, a Penning trap mass spectrometer facility particularly suitable for precision measurements of ms-half-life nuclides.     

Production and properties of the heaviest elements

This article reviews the following topics which were discussed at the 375th Wilhelm and Else Heraeus-Seminar Workshop on the Atomic Properties of the Heaviest Elements held from September 25–27, 2006 at the Abtei Frauenw?rth im Chiemsee, Germany: (i) the recent progress in the production of the heaviest elements, the investigation of their nuclear structure, and prospects for direct mass measurements in Penning traps. (ii) Recent studies of their chemical properties with the aid of volatile species and single-atom aqueous-phase chemistry; (iii) the current status and future prospects for the investigation of atomic and ionic properties such as optical spectroscopy in gas cells and ion traps, including fully relativistic calculations of the atomic level structure with predictions for the element nobelium; and (iv) ionic charge radii measurements in buffer gas filled drift cells, and ion chemical reactions in the gas phase.     

The TITAN mass measurement facility at TRIUMF-ISAC

The TITAN facility at TRIUMF-ISAC will use four ion traps with the primary goal of determining nuclear masses with high precision, particularly for short lived isotopes with lifetimes down to approximately 10 ms. The design value for the accuracy of the mass measurement is 1 ×10^???8. The four main components in the facility are an RF cooler/buncher (RFCT) receiving the incoming ion beam, an electron beam ion trap (EBIT) to breed the ions to higher charge states, a cooler Penning trap (CPET) to cool the highly charged ions, and finally the measurement Penning trap (MPET) for the precision mass determination. Additional goals for this system are laser spectroscopy on ions extracted from the RFCT and beta spectroscopy in the EBIT (in Penning trap mode) on ions that are purified using selective buffer gas cooling in the CPET. The physics motivation for the mass measurements are manifold, from unitarity tests of the CKM matrix to nuclear structure very far from the valley of stability, nuclear astrophysics and the study of halo-nuclei. As a first measurement the mass of ¹¹Li will be determined. With a lifetime of 8.7 ms and a demonstrated production rate of 4×10⁴ ions/sec at ISAC the goal for this measurement at TITAN is a relative uncertainty of 5×10^???8. This would check previous conflicting measurements and provide information for nuclear theory and models.     

The trap design of PENTATRAP

A novel Penning-trap tower consisting of five compensated cylindrical Penning traps is developed for the PENTATRAP mass spectrometer at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik in Heidelberg, Germany. An analytical expression for the electrostatic potential inside the trap tower is derived to calculate standard Penning-trap properties like the compensation of anharmonicities and an orthogonal geometry of the trap electrodes. Since the PENTATRAP project described in the preceding article aims for ultra high-precision mass-ratio measurements of highly charged ions up to uranium, systematic effects for highly charged ions inside the trap tower are considered for the design process as well. Finally, a limit due to remaining anharmonic shifts at large amplitudes is estimated for the resulting geometry, which is important for phase-sensitive measurements of the reduced cyclotron frequency of the ions.     

Recent high-precision Penning trap mass measurements performed at LEBIT

Collected here are all publications related to high-precision Penning trap mass measurements performed at LEBIT which were published from 2007 to 2009.     

Phase-sensitive cyclotron frequency measurements at ultralow energies

A novel technique for a direct and coherent measurement of the modified cyclotron frequency of an ion in a Penning trap at energies close to the thermal cooling limit is presented. This allows a rapid and both precise and accurate determination of the free-space cyclotron frequency in real Penning traps despite the existence of electric and magnetic field imperfections and relativistic shifts. The demonstrated performance paves the way for considerably improved bound-state g-factor measurements on the 10?ppt level and mass measurements in the 1?ppt range and possibly below.     

Direct mass measurements on the superallowed emitter 74Rb and its daughter 74Kr: isospin-symmetry-breaking correction for standard-model tests

The decay energy of the superallowed beta decay 74Rb(beta+)74Kr was determined by direct Penning trap mass measurements on both the mother and the daughter nuclide using the time-of-flight resonance technique and was found to be Q=10 416.8(4.5) keV. The exotic nuclide 74Rb, with a half-life of only 65 ms, is the shortest-lived nuclide on which a high-precision mass measurement in a Penning trap has been carried out. Together with existing data for the partial half-life as well as theoretical corrections, the decay energy yields a comparative half-life of Ft=3084(15) s for this decay, in agreement with the mean value for the series of the lighter nuclides from 10C to 54Co. Assuming conserved vector current, this result allows for an experimental determination of the isospin-symmetry-breaking correction deltaC.     

Penning trap mass measurements of rare isotopes produced by projectile fragmentation with LEBIT at NSCL

The Low-Energy Beam and Ion Trap facility LEBIT at the NSCL at MSU has demonstrated that rare isotopes produced by fast-beam fragmentation can be slowed down and prepared for precision experiments with low-energy beams. High-pressure gas-stopping was combined with advanced ion manipulation techniques to carry out these studies with a high-precision 9.4-Tesla Penning trap mass spectrometer. The spectrometer has been used for a series of high precision mass measurements of short-lived neutron- and proton-rich isotopes during the past year. This paper presents an overview of the LEBIT facility and summarizes the first mass measurement results. The mass measurements of ⁸¹Se, where ground and isomeric states have been resolved, and of ⁸⁰As will be discussed in detail.     

Discovery of a nuclear isomer in 65Fe with penning trap mass spectrometry

A new long-lived isomeric state in (65)Fe has been discovered with Penning trap mass spectrometry and high-precision mass measurements of the neutron-rich isotopes (63-65)Fe and (64-66)Co have been performed with the Low-Energy Beam and Ion Trap Facility at the NSCL. For the new isomer in (65)Fe an excitation energy of 402(5) keV has been determined from the measured mass difference between the isomeric and ground states. The mass uncertainties of all isotopes have been reduced by a factor of 10-100 compared to previous results. In the case of (64)Co the previous mass value was found to deviate by about 5 standard deviations from the new measurement.     

Penning traps as a versatile tool for precise experiments in fundamental physics

This review article describes the trapping of charged particles. The main principles of electromagnetic confinement of various species from elementary particles to heavy atoms are briefly described. The preparation and manipulation with trapped single particles, as well as methods of frequency measurements, providing unprecedented precision, are discussed. Unique applications of Penning traps in fundamental physics are presented. Ultra-precise trap-measurements of masses and magnetic moments of elementary particles (electrons, positrons, protons and antiprotons) confirm CPT-conservation, and allow accurate determination of the fine-structure constant α and other fundamental constants. This together with the information on the unitarity of the quark-mixing matrix, derived from the trap-measurements of atomic masses, serves for assessment of the Standard Model of the physics world. Direct mass measurements of nuclides targeted to some advanced problems of astrophysics and nuclear physics are also presented.     

Status of the project TRAPSENSOR

Penning traps are used to perform very precise mass measurements on exotic and stable nuclei covering a variety of topics. In order to reach the highest accuracy, only one ion must be stored and measured in the trap. The mass is determined from the oscillation frequencies, by detecting the current the stored ion induces on the trap electrodes. This is a well-known technique demonstrated for ions with low or medium mass-to-charge ratios. Another technique recently proposed, and referred to as Quantum Sensor, aims at extending the applicability of single-ion Penning-trap measurements through the full atomic mass scale. The technique substitutes the electronic detection by the detection of fluorescence photons from a laser-cooled ion stored in a second Penning trap, thereafter this ion interacts with the ion of interest. The new device is under completion at the University of Granada (Spain) within the project TRAPSENSOR. This paper will present the status of this project.