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Many experiments with pulsed ion beams benefit from or even require ion bunches with both small temporal width as well as small energy spread. To achieve optimal ion-beam preparation, a buffer-gas filled cryogenic Paul trap is being developed in the context of the Multi Ion Reflection Apparatus for Collinear Laser Spectroscopy (MIRACLS). There, ion bunches of short-lived radionuclides are trapped in a Multi-Reflection Time-of-Flight (MR-ToF) device. Thus, the ions can be repeatedly probed by a laser beam compared to only once in conventional, single-passage collinear laser spectroscopy. To fulfill MIRACLS' opposing requirements of a small temporal ion-bunch width and small energy spread, a buffer-gas filled cryogenic Paul trap is envisioned. Ion-optical simulations confirm the advantages of cryogenic temperatures and the linear scaling of the beam emittance as a function of the buffer-gas temperature. Beyond MIRACLS, high-quality ion beams from a cryogenic Paul trap will be beneficial for other precision experiments at radioactive ion beam facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Multi-Ion Reflection Apparatus for Collinear Laser Spectroscopy (MIRACLS), currently under development at ISOLDE/CERN, aims to combine the high resolution of fluorescence-based collinear laser spectroscopy (CLS) with a high sensitivity. This will be achieved by confining 30-keV ion bunches in a Multi-Reflection Time-of-Flight (MR-ToF) device which allows laser spectroscopic probing for several thousand times. An MR-ToF setup operating at ∼ 1.5keV beam energy has been adapted for a proof-of-principle experiment. Thus, efforts had to be undertaken to reduce the laser stray light as the leading source of background of this apparatus, not originally designed for CLS. These measures enabled CLS of 24,26Mg+ ions in single-path mode, i.e. without ion trapping, which is the reference point to gauge the gain in sensitivity of the MIRACLS technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collinear laser spectroscopy (CLS) has been combined with the multi-reflection time-of-flight (MR-ToF) technique. To this end, a photodetection system has been implemented at the drift region of a MR-ToF apparatus and a laser beam has been sent along the path of the ions that are stored between the two ion-optical mirrors. The main goal of the present proof-of-principle (PoP) experiments, is the confirmation of the expected increase in sensitivity compared to conventional fluorescence-based CLS due to the repeated probing of the trapped ion bunches. The novel method will be used for the precise measurement of nuclear ground- and isomeric-state properties of exotic nuclei with low production yields at radioactive ion-beam facilities. A significant sensitivity improvement of CLS is expected, depending on the half-life and mass of the nuclide of interest. The status of the PoP setup and future improvements are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many experiments at radioactive ion beam (RIB) facilities suffer from isobaric contamination, i.e. unwanted ions of similar mass. During the last decade, Multi-Reflection Time-of-Flight (MR-ToF) devices have gained remarkable attention for mass separation of short-lived, low-intensity beams of radionuclides at RIB facilities throughout the world. They exceed mass resolving powers m / Δ m of 1 0 5 within a processing time of some (tens of) milliseconds. Due to space-charge effects, however, the mass separation remains an experimental challenge when many ions are simultaneously confined in the MR-ToF device. This limits the wider application of MR-ToF mass separators at RIB facilities. By performing ion-optical simulations including space-charge effects, we investigate different schemes of ion preparation in a Paul trap upstream of the MR-ToF device as well as MR-ToF operation and study their influence on mass separation and maximal ion flux. The validity of these simulations are benchmarked by time-of-flight and collision-induced fluorescence measurements with a 1.5 keV MR-ToF device. More advanced ion-beam preparation techniques such as the use of laser cooling, buffer-gas cooling at cryogenic temperatures or specific electric-field parameters for ion trapping and ejection from the Paul trap can significantly reduce the processing time needed to reach a given mass resolving power. However, the simulations of these methods also indicate that space-charge effects in the MR-ToF device become relevant at lower ion numbers compared to 'standard' ion preparation. Thus, the overall amount of mass separated ions per unit of time remains essentially the same. In contrast, the simulations suggest that increasing the kinetic energy of typically just a few kiloelectronvolts in present MR-ToF instruments to 30 keV results in a significant increase of the attainable maximal ion flux. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Multi Ion Reflection Apparatus for Collinear Laser Spectroscopy (MIRACLS) seeks to extend the reach of high-resolution collinear laser spectroscopy (CLS) to more exotic radionuclides. In this novel technique, ion bunches of short-lived radioisotopes are trapped between two electrostatic mirrors of a Multi-Reflection Time-of-Flight (MR-ToF) device at 30-keV kinetic energy. The same ion bunch can be probed by a spectroscopy laser for thousands of times compared to a single probing in the traditional CLS measurement scheme. Thus, the experimental sensitivity is increased by more than one to two orders of magnitude. Extensive simulations are presented, demonstrating the feasibility of high-resolution collinear laser spectroscopy (CLS) in the newly envisioned MR-ToF apparatus operating at ion energies of 30 keV. Once the mechanical design and operational parameters are optimized for the requirements of CLS, the spectral line is neither significantly broadened nor distorted by the combination of CLS and MR-ToF operation. According to the simulations, the storage efficiency and the ion–laser overlap are suitable for laser excitation of the majority of the trapped ions. In summary, > 90 % injection and storage efficiency, > 75 % ion–laser overlap and a line width approaching the natural line width of the transition of interest are reached in the simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collinear laser spectroscopy (CLS) has been performed in a multi-reflection time-of-flight (MR-ToF) device operated in single-pass mode, i.e., without confining the ions in the ion trap. While our Multi Ion Reflection Apparatus for Collinear Laser Spectroscopy (MIRACLS) aims to increase the CLS sensitivity by storing ions in the MR-ToF device, the present work characterises conventional single-passage CLS as a preparatory step for the upcoming comparison with MIRACLS' multi-pass mode. To this end, the isotope shift in the 3 s 2 S 1 / 2 → 3 p 2 P 3 / 2 transition (D2 line) between ions of the magnesium isotopes 24Mg and 26Mg has been measured under varying experimental conditions. Our result agrees with the precise literature value. Associated studies of systematic uncertainties demonstrate a measurement accuracy of better than 20 MHz in this new apparatus. This value will serve as the reference for analogous studies to be performed in the MIRACLS approach in which ions are trapped in the MR-ToF device for thousands of revolutions and probed by the spectroscopy laser during each passage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]