Ion neutralisation mass-spectrometry route to radium monofluoride (RaF)

Abstract

The diatomic molecule radium monofluoride (RaF) has recently been proposed as a versatile probe for physics beyond the current standard model. Herein, a route towards production of a RaF molecular beam via radium ions is proposed. It takes advantage of the special electronic structure expected for group 2 halides and group 2 hydrides: The electronic ground state of neutral RaF and its monocation differ in occupation of a non-bonding orbital of $\sigma$ symmetry. This implies similar equilibrium distances and harmonic vibrational wavenumbers in the two charge states and thus favourable Franck--Condon factors for neutralisation without dissociation in neutralising collisions. According to the calculated ionisation energy of RaF, charge exchange collisions of RaF${}^{+}$ with sodium atoms are almost iso-enthalpic, resulting in large cross-sections for the production of neutral radium monofluoride.

3 pages, 1 figure, 1 table, 1 ancillary file; references added in ancillary file

Cited by in corpus (1)

• Isotope Shifts of Radium Monofluoride Molecules