| 1. |
- Udrescu, S. M., et al.
(författare)
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Precision spectroscopy and laser-cooling scheme of a radium-containing molecule
- 2024
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Ingår i: NATURE PHYSICS. - 1745-2473 .- 1745-2481.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Molecules containing heavy radioactive nuclei are predicted to be extremely sensitive to violations of the fundamental symmetries of nature. The nuclear octupole deformation of certain radium isotopes massively boosts the sensitivity of radium monofluoride molecules to symmetry-violating nuclear properties. Moreover, these molecules are predicted to be laser coolable. Here we report measurements of the rovibronic structure of radium monofluoride molecules, which allow the determination of their laser cooling scheme. We demonstrate an improvement in resolution of more than two orders of magnitude compared to the state of the art. Our developments allowed measurements of minuscule amounts of hot molecules, with only a few hundred per second produced in a particular rotational state. The combined precision and sensitivity achieved in this work offer opportunities for studies of radioactive molecules of interest in fundamental physics, chemistry and astrophysics. Measurements of the rovibronic structure of radium monofluoride molecules allow the identification of a laser cooling scheme. This will enable precise tests of fundamental physics, such as searches for parity or time-reversal symmetry violation.
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| 2. |
- Vernon, A. R., et al.
(författare)
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Nuclear moments of indium isotopes reveal abrupt change at magic number 82
- 2022
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 607:7918, s. 260-265
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In spite of the high-density and strongly correlated nature of the atomic nucleus, experimental and theoretical evidence suggests that around particular ‘magic’ numbers of nucleons, nuclear properties are governed by a single unpaired nucleon1,2. A microscopic understanding of the extent of this behaviour and its evolution in neutron-rich nuclei remains an open question in nuclear physics3–5. The indium isotopes are considered a textbook example of this phenomenon6, in which the constancy of their electromagnetic properties indicated that a single unpaired proton hole can provide the identity of a complex many-nucleon system6,7. Here we present precision laser spectroscopy measurements performed to investigate the validity of this simple single-particle picture. Observation of an abrupt change in the dipole moment at N = 82 indicates that, whereas the single-particle picture indeed dominates at neutron magic number N = 82 (refs. 2,8), it does not for previously studied isotopes. To investigate the microscopic origin of these observations, our work provides a combined effort with developments in two complementary nuclear many-body methods: ab initio valence-space in-medium similarity renormalization group and density functional theory (DFT). We find that the inclusion of time-symmetry-breaking mean fields is essential for a correct description of nuclear magnetic properties, which were previously poorly constrained. These experimental and theoretical findings are key to understanding how seemingly simple single-particle phenomena naturally emerge from complex interactions among protons and neutrons. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.
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| 3. |
- Barzakh, A., et al.
(författare)
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Large Shape Staggering in Neutron-Deficient Bi Isotopes
- 2021
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Ingår i: Physical Review Letters. - 0031-9007. ; 127:19
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The changes in the mean-square charge radius (relative to Bi209), magnetic dipole, and electric quadrupole moments of Bi187,188,189,191 were measured using the in-source resonance-ionization spectroscopy technique at ISOLDE (CERN). A large staggering in radii was found in Bi187,188,189g, manifested by a sharp radius increase for the ground state of Bi188 relative to the neighboring Bi187,189g. A large isomer shift was also observed for Bi188m. Both effects happen at the same neutron number, N=105, where the shape staggering and a similar isomer shift were observed in the mercury isotopes. Experimental results are reproduced by mean-field calculations where the ground or isomeric states were identified by the blocked quasiparticle configuration compatible with the observed spin, parity, and magnetic moment. © 2021 authors.
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| 4. |
- Andel, B., et al.
(författare)
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β -delayed fission of isomers in Bi 188
- 2020
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Ingår i: Physical Review C. - 2469-9985. ; 102:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- β-delayed fission (βDF) decay of a low-spin (ls) and a high-spin (hs) isomer in Bi188 was studied at the ISOLDE facility at CERN. Isomer-selective laser ionization and time gating were employed to investigate each isomer separately and their βDF partial half-lives were determined: T1/2p,βDF(188Bihs)=5.6(8)×103 s and T1/2p,βDF(188Bils)=1.7(6)×103 s. This work is the first βDF study of two states in one isotope and allows the spin dependence of low-energy fission to be explored. The fission fragment mass distribution of a daughter nuclide Pb188, following the β decay of the high-spin isomer, was deduced and indicates a mixture of symmetric and asymmetric fission modes. Experimental results were compared with self-consistent mean-field calculations based on the finite-range Gogny D1M interaction. To reproduce the measured T1/2p,βDF(188Bihs), the calculated fission barrier of Pb188 had to be reduced by ≈30%. After this reduction, the measured T1/2p,βDF(188Bils) was in agreement with calculations for a few possible configurations for Bils188. Theoretical βDF probabilities for these configurations were found to be lower by a factor of 4-9 than the βDF probability of Bihs188. The fission fragment mass distribution of Pb188 was compared to the scission-point model SPY and the calculations based on the finite-range liquid-drop model. The first observation of βDF for Bi190 is also reported. © 2020 authors. Published by the American Physical Society. Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.
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| 5. |
- Urquiza-González, M., et al.
(författare)
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Benchmark evaluation for a single frequency continuous wave OPO seeded pulsed dye amplifier for high-resolution laser spectroscopy
- 2023
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Ingår i: Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering. - : SPIE. - 0277-786X .- 1996-756X. - 9781510659032
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The study of the atomic spectrum via resonant laser excitation provides access to underlying effects caused by the nuclear structure, which is of special interest in short-lived radioisotopes produced at Isotope Separator On-Line (ISOL) facilities. Current implementations of resonant laser ionization techniques often limit the extraction of the nuclear observables due to the low spectral resolution of the pulsed laser systems deployed. Several high-resolution spectroscopy techniques demand spectral widths in the order of hundreds of MHz and below. A proven solution to reduce this linewidth is the pulsed amplification of a narrow-band continuous wave (cw) laser. This work presents the demonstration of a pulsed dye amplifier seeded by a commercially available cw Optical Parametric Oscillator (OPO). The performance of this system was compared with competing setups using a cw dye laser seed source as well as a frequency mixing technique using a combination of an injection-locked titanium:sapphire (Ti:Sa) and a Nd:YVO4 laser. Spectral bandwidths of the systems were measured using a high finesse Fabry-Perot Interferometer, resulting in comparable optical linewidths between 140 to 156 MHz at a wavelength of 328 nm for the different laser setups. Suitability for on-line experiments was validated by performing high-resolution spectroscopy of radioactive silver isotopes in the Collinear Resonance Ionization Spectroscopy (CRIS) experiment at the Isotope Separator On-Line Device (ISOLDE), at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). The quality of the hyperfine spectra was similar for the dye and the OPO seed and the deduced hyperfine splitting was in good agreement with literature, while the frequency mixing technique exhibited less precise results attributed to the frequency instabilities and mode-hops of the single-mode Nd:YVO4 laser.
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| 6. |
- Au, M., et al.
(författare)
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In-source and in-trap formation of molecular ions in the actinide mass range at CERN-ISOLDE
- 2023
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Ingår i: Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research Section B-Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms. - 0168-583X. ; 541, s. 375-379
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The use of radioactive molecules for fundamental physics research is a developing interdisciplinary field limited dominantly by their scarce availability. In this work, radioactive molecular ion beams containing actinide nuclei extracted from uranium carbide targets are produced via the Isotope Separation On-Line technique at the CERN-ISOLDE facility. Two methods of molecular beam production are studied: extraction of molecular ion beams from the ion source, and formation of molecular ions from the mass-separated ion beam in a gas-filled radio-frequency quadrupole ion trap. Ion currents of U+, UO1-3+, UC1-3+, UF1-4+, UF1,2O1,2+ are reported. Metastable tantalum and uranium fluoride molecular ions are identified. Formation of UO1-3+, U(OH)1-3+, UC1-3+, UF1,2O1,2+ from mass-separated beams of U+, UF1,2+ with residual gas is observed in the ion trap. The effect of trapping time on molecular formation is presented.
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| 7. |
- Rothe, Sebastian, et al.
(författare)
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Laser photodetachment of radioactive I-128(-)
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of Physics G-Nuclear and Particle Physics. - : IOP Publishing. - 0954-3899 .- 1361-6471. ; 44:10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The first experimental investigation of the electron affinity (EA) of a radioactive isotope has been conducted at the CERN-ISOLDE radioactive ion beam facility. The EA of the radioactive iodine isotope I-128 (t(1/2) = 25 min) was determined to be 3.059 052(38) eV. The experiment was conducted using the newly developed Gothenburg ANion Detector for Affinity measurements by Laser PHotodetachment (GANDALPH) apparatus, connected to a CERNI-SOLDE experimental beamline. I-128 was produced in fission induced by 1.4 GeV protons striking a thorium/tantalum foil target and then extracted as singly charged negative ions at a beam energy of 20 keV. Laser photodetachment of the fast ion beam was performed in a collinear geometry inside the GANDALPH chamber. Neutral atoms produced in the photodetachment process were detected by allowing them to impinge on a glass surface, creating secondary electrons which were then detected using a channel electron multiplier. The photon energy of the laser was tuned across the threshold of the photodetachment process and the detachment threshold data were fitted to a Wigner law function in order to extract the EA. This first successful demonstration of photodetachment at an isotope separator on line facility opens up the opportunity for future studies of the fundamental properties of negatively charged radioactive isotopes such as the EA of astatine and polonium.
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| 8. |
- Tetarenko, B. E., et al.
(författare)
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The First Low-Mass Black Hole X-Ray Binary Identified in Quiscence Outside of a Globular Cluster
- 2016
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - 1538-4357 .- 0004-637X. ; 825:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The observed relation between the X-ray and radio properties of low-luminosity accreting black holes (BHs) has enabled the identification of multiple candidate black hole X-ray binaries (BHXBs) in globular clusters (GCs). Here, we report an identification of the radio source VLA J213002.08+120904 (aka M15 S2), recently reported in Kirsten et al., as a BHXB candidate. They showed that the parallax of this flat-spectrum variable radio source indicates a - + 2.2 0.30.5 kpc distance, which identifies it as lying in the foreground of the GC M15. We determine the radio characteristics of this source and place a deep limit on the X-ray luminosity of ∼4 × 1029 erg s.1. Furthermore, we astrometrically identify a faint red stellar counterpart in archival Hubble images with colors consistent with a foreground star; at 2.2 kpc, its inferred mass is 0.1-0.2Me. We rule out that this object is a pulsar, neutron star X-ray binary, cataclysmic variable, or planetary nebula, concluding that VLA J213002.08+120904 is the first accreting BHXB candidate discovered in quiescence outside of a GC. Given the relatively small area over which parallax studies of radio sources have been performed, this discovery suggests a much larger population of quiescent BHXBs in our Galaxy, 2.6 ± 104-1.7 × 108 BHXBs at 3× confidence, than has been previously estimated (∼102-104) through population synthesis.The observed relation between the X-ray and radio properties of low-luminosity accreting black holes (BHs) has enabled the identification of multiple candidate black hole X-ray binaries (BHXBs) in globular clusters (GCs). Here, we report an identification of the radio source VLA J213002.08+120904 (aka M15 S2), recently reported in Kirsten et al., as a BHXB candidate. They showed that the parallax of this flat-spectrum variable radio source indicates a - + 2.2 0.30.5 kpc distance, which identifies it as lying in the foreground of the GC M15. We determine the radio characteristics of this source and place a deep limit on the X-ray luminosity of ∼4 × 1029 erg s.1. Furthermore, we astrometrically identify a faint red stellar counterpart in archival Hubble images with colors consistent with a foreground star; at 2.2 kpc, its inferred mass is 0.1-0.2Me. We rule out that this object is a pulsar, neutron star X-ray binary, cataclysmic variable, or planetary nebula, concluding that VLA J213002.08+120904 is the first accreting BHXB candidate discovered in quiescence outside of a GC. Given the relatively small area over which parallax studies of radio sources have been performed, this discovery suggests a much larger population of quiescent BHXBs in our Galaxy, 2.6 ± 104-1.7 × 108 BHXBs at 3× confidence, than has been previously estimated (∼102-104) through population synthesis.
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| 9. |
- Ballof, J., et al.
(författare)
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Progress towards the FRIB-EDM3-Frontend: A tool to provide radioactive molecules from isotope harvesting for fundamental symmetry studies
- 2023
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Ingår i: Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research Section B-Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms. - 0168-583X. ; 541, s. 224-227
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The under-construction FRIB-EDM3-instrument was designed to study polar radioactive molecules (such as RaF) in transparent cryogenic solids by laser spectroscopy. The instrument is divided into a frontend-and a backend section. The frontend accepts an aqueous sample from isotope harvesting and provides a mass-separated molecular ion beam in an ultra-high vacuum environment. In the backend, the ions are guided into alkali-metal vapor and the resulting neutrals are co-deposited in a solid argon matrix to perform laser spectroscopy. This work addresses the frontend of the instrument. The efficient ionization of harvested radioisotopes from aqueous samples is achieved with a spray-ionization method. Subsequently, the molecular ion beam is analyzed by mass -to-charge ratio by a quadrupole mass filter. To verify the feasibility of the approach, numerical simulations with the COMSOL and SIMION packages have been conducted. While the former was applied to study transport in ion funnels, the latter was used to investigate ion beam transmission through the lower pressure sections. Following promising simulation results, a first experimental setup is under construction.
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| 10. |
- Bender, P., et al.
(författare)
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Influence of clustering on the magnetic properties and hyperthermia performance of iron oxide nanoparticles
- 2018
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Ingår i: Nanotechnology. - : IOP Publishing. - 0957-4484 .- 1361-6528. ; 29:42
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Clustering of magnetic nanoparticles can drastically change their collective magnetic properties, which in turn may influence their performance in technological or biomedical applications. Here, we investigate a commercial colloidal dispersion (FeraSpin™R), which contains dense clusters of iron oxide cores (mean size around 9 nm according to neutron diffraction) with varying cluster size (about 18-56 nm according to small angle x-ray diffraction), and its individual size fractions (FeraSpin™XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL). The magnetic properties of the colloids were characterized by isothermal magnetization, as well as frequency-dependent optomagnetic and AC susceptibility measurements. From these measurements we derive the underlying moment and relaxation frequency distributions, respectively. Analysis of the distributions shows that the clustering of the initially superparamagnetic cores leads to remanent magnetic moments within the large clusters. At frequencies below 105 rad s-1, the relaxation of the clusters is dominated by Brownian (rotation) relaxation. At higher frequencies, where Brownian relaxation is inhibited due to viscous friction, the clusters still show an appreciable magnetic relaxation due to internal moment relaxation within the clusters. As a result of the internal moment relaxation, the colloids with the large clusters (FS-L, XL, XXL) excel in magnetic hyperthermia experiments.
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