Laser spectroscopy of radioactive isotopes

The experimental conditions for laser spectroscopy of shortlived isotopes is discussed with respect to nuclear lifetime, reaction rates and samples preparation by on-line mass-separator techniques. The method of collinear laser spectroscopy is presented with results for medium mass elements near the closed proton shell Z=50. An interpretation of magnetic moments, spectroscopic quadrupole moments and the parabolic shape of the isotope shift in this region of nuclei is given.     

Laser spectroscopy of stable Os isotopes

Doppler-free isotope shift measurements of the stable even ^184–192Os and ^187,189Os odd isotopes have been performed for the first time on the 5d ⁶6s ^{2 5}D₄→5d ⁶6s6p ⁷F₄ (305.9 nm) transition in the neutral atom by atomic beam laser spectroscopy and on the ionic 5d ⁶6s ⁵D_9/2→5d ⁶6p ⁶D_7/2 (228.2 nm) transition by fast collinear ion-laser spectroscopy. The measurements were carried out in Manchester and at the IGISOL facility in Jyväskylä in Finland, respectively. The results presented are the most precise measurements to-date of the absolute isotope shifts.     

Laser spectroscopy of radioactive lead and thallium isotopes

By collincar fast beam laser spectroscopy hyperfine structure and isotope shift have been measured of neutron deficient radioactive isotopes of lead (¹⁹⁰Pb,¹⁹¹Pb,¹⁹²Pb,¹⁹³Pb,¹⁹⁴Pb,¹⁹⁵Pb,¹⁹⁶Pb,¹⁹⁷Pb) and thallium (¹⁸⁸Tl¹⁹⁰Tl,¹⁹¹Tl,¹⁹²Tl,¹⁹⁴Tl,¹⁹⁶Tl). Therefrom nuclear magnetic dipole moments, electric quadrupole moments, changes of the mean square charge radii and deformation parameters are deduced and compared with predictions from theory.     

Laser spectroscopy and mass measurements on alkali isotopes

Isotope shifts, spins, hyperfine structures and masses have been measured for the series of the alkali isotopes including the nuclei far from stability. The method of laser spectroscopy and its combinations with rf excitation are described. Some results are discussed, namely the first observation of the red doublet D₁-D₂ of francium, and the study of shell effects and changes of shape with mass and δ〈r ²〉 measurements for Rb and Na isotopes.     

Laser spectroscopy measurements of neutron-rich tellurium isotopes by COMPLIS

Laser spectroscopy based on resonant ionization of laser-desorbed atoms has been used to study the neutron-rich tellurium isotopes with the COMPLIS facility at ISOLDE-CERN. Isotope shifts and hyperfine structures of several neutron-rich Te isotopes: ^120?136Te and ^{123 m?133 m}Te have been measured. From the hyperfine structure we have extracted magnetic and quadrupole moments. Changes in the mean square charge radii have been deduced and their comparison with the known data for the other elements near Z?=?50 is presented. The experimental δ?<?r ²> values are compared with those obtained from relativistic mean field calculations.     

New neutron-rich isotopes of astatine and bismuth

Neutron-rich isotopes of astatine have been produced through spallation reactions with 600 MeV protons on a²³²Th target and identified by spectroscopic techniques combined with one-line mass separation at the ISOLDE facility. The half-lives of²¹⁸At and²¹⁹At have been remeasured to be 1.5(3) s and 57(4) s, respectively. Four new isotopes of astatine,^220?223At, have been observed for the first time, and their half-lives were found to be 3.73(13) min, 2.3(2) min, 54(10) s, and 50(7) s, respectively. Another nuclide,²¹⁶Bi, has been observed for the first time as the daughter product of the²²⁰At alpha decay, and its half-life has been measured to be 6.6(21) min.     

Nuclear spectroscopy of molybdenum isotopes

The dependence of the properties of low-lying states of Mo isotopes on the mass number A = 83–117 is studied based on the collective and shell models of atomic nuclei. The variation of the nuclear shape with an increasing number of neutrons influences strongly the properties of excited states of Mo isotopes. Decay channels of isovector giant dipole resonance with emission of protons and neutrons are studied in the framework of the combined model. The basic mechanisms of the production of stable Mo isotopes in astrophysical nuclear reactions are described.     

Laser traps for radioactive isotopes

The techniques of laser cooling and trapping now make it possible to observe large samples of stable atoms in a small volume at low temperature. This capability was recently extended to radioactive isotopes. This opens up new opportunities for the investigation of fundamental symmetries through measurements using radioactive atoms. In this paper we will discuss several fundamental measurements in atomic systems and how the ability to trap radioactive atoms will play an important role in improving the precision of such measurements. Measurements of the effects of the weak interaction are of particular note since they are becoming quite precise. In particular, we will describe in detail the system developed at Stony Brook to trap radioactive alkali atoms and measure weak interaction effects in francium isotopes.     

Resonance ionization spectroscopy of bismuth at the IGISOL facility

A programme of research has commenced at the IGISOL facility, Jyväskylä, combining the technique of resonance ionization spectroscopy with the development of the highly selective laser ion source trap (LIST). The first element of interest is bismuth, which contains three isomers of multi-quasiparticle states in near-spherical nuclei, namely ²⁰⁷Bi (21/2⁺, 182 μs), ²⁰⁴Bi (10^?, 13 ms) and ²⁰⁴Bi (17⁺, 1.07 ms). A measurement of the optical isomer shift provides a direct comparison of the mean?square charge radii between the isomer and the nuclear ground state. Due to the short isomer lifetimes the spectroscopy will be done either within the ion guide or in a sextupole ion beam guide (SPIG), located after the ion guide and used in the development of the LIST. A mixed dye-Ti:Sapphire laser ionization scheme has been successfully tested for bismuth and first off-line results have been obtained.     

Submillimeter spectroscopy of the major isotopes of water

Extensive new measurements in the region 300–1100 GHz for the major isotopes of water in both the ground and first excited vibrational states are reported. These results are used as the basis for centrifugal distortion analyses of these species that are based solely upon microwave data. Comparisons are made with both earlier microwave work and with previous analyses based upon weighted data sets of microwave and high-resolution infrared data. The new measurements reported in this paper represent more than a third of the total microwave data currently available.     

Reaction spectroscopy with even tin isotopes

The two-particle transfer reactions ^{116, 118}Sn(t, p) and the inelastic scattering of 55 MeV protons from ¹¹⁶Sn and 16 MeV protons from ^{116, 118, 120}Sn are analysed for various transitions to collective and non-collective states in the final nucleus using DWBA. Form factors have been calculated with wave functions containing two-quasiparticle excitations of neutrons in open and closed shells as well as 1p-1h transitions from closed proton shells. In the inelastic scattering, generally a Serber-type Gaussian effective interaction was inserted. The results are compared with those obtained on the assumption of two-quasiparticle excitations in a restricted configuration space only. For both types of reaction, reasonable agreement with experimental data is obtained for the angular distribution. In the (t, p) reaction the measured and calculated relative cross sections agree within a factor of two. For the inelastic scattering, apart from relative cross sections the mass dependence of the collective excitations and the influence of four-quasiparticle excitations have been examined. The transition to the collective 2⁺ level in ¹¹⁶Sn was calculated with the proton component of the wave function corrected according to electromagnetic measurements. From inelastic scattering it follows that the transitions to negative-parity states especially are not described satisfactorily by the wave functions used. Cross sections for unobserved higher excited levels have been estimated.     

High resolution spectroscopy of stable xenon isotopes

In this paper we investigate the hyperfine structure and isotope shift of four near infrared xenon transitions by means of a semiconductor diode laser. Doppler free spectra were obtained by using either a saturation spectroscopy technique in cell or a laser induced fluorescence technique on a collimated atomic metastable beam. The hyperfine coupling constants of ¹²⁹Xe and ¹³¹Xe were determined for the levels 1s₅, 1s₄, 1s₄2, 2p₂, 2p₄ and 2p₆ (Paschen notation). Moreover, a systematic study of the isotope shift was performed for the 1s₃ → 2p₄ and 1s₅ → 2p₆ transitions for which all the stable isotopes ^128–131Xe , ¹³²Xe, ¹³⁴Xe, and ¹³⁶Xe were fully resolved. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.