Determination of the extraction efficiency for ${}^{233}$U source $\alpha$-recoil ions from the MLL buffer-gas stopping cell

Abstract

Following the $\alpha$ decay of ${}^{233}$U, ${}^{229}$Th recoil ions are shown to be extracted in a significant amount from the MLL buffer-gas stopping cell. The produced recoil ions and subsequent daughter nuclei are mass purified with the help of a customized quadrupole mass spectrometer. The combined extraction and mass-purification efficiency for ${}^{229}$Th${}^{3+}$ is determined via MCP-based measurements and via the direct detection of the ${}^{229}$Th $\alpha$ decay. A large value of $(10\pm 2)$\% for the combined extraction and mass-purification efficiency of ${}^{229}$Th${}^{3+}$ is obtained at a mass resolution of about 1 u/e. In addition to ${}^{229}$Th, also other $\alpha$-recoil ions of the ${}^{233,232}$U decay chains are addressed.

References in corpus (5)

• Wigner Crystals of 229Th for Optical Excitation of the Nuclear Isomer
• Performance of a 229 Thorium solid-state nuclear clock
• Excitation of the isomeric ^{229m}Th nuclear state via an electronic bridge process in ^{229}Th^+
• Resonance ionization spectroscopy of thorium isotopes - towards a laser spectroscopic identification of the low-lying 7.6 eV isomer of Th-229
• Towards a direct transition energy measurement of the lowest nuclear excitation in 229Th

Cited by in corpus (14)

• Direct detection of the 229Th nuclear clock transition
• Energy of the ${}^{229}$Th nuclear clock transition
• Laser spectroscopic characterization of the nuclear clock isomer ${}^{229m}$Th
• Lifetime measurement of the ${}^{229}$Th nuclear isomer
• Opportunities for Fundamental Physics Research with Radioactive Molecules
• The ${}^{229}$Th isomer: prospects for a nuclear optical clock
• Recent progress in laser spectroscopy of the actinides
• Measuring the Th-229 nuclear isomer transition with U-233 doped crystals
• Feasibility Study of Internal Conversion Electron Spectroscopy of ${}^{229m}$Th
• Sympathetic cooling of trapped Th3+ alpha-recoil ions for laser spectroscopy
• The extraction of 229Th3+ from a buffer-gas stopping cell
• A VUV detection system for the direct photonic identification of the first excited isomeric state of ${}^{229}$Th
• Characterization of ${}^{233}$U alpha recoil sources for ${}^{229(m)}$Th beam production
• A cryogenic Paul trap for probing the nuclear isomeric excited state ${}^{229\text{m}}$Th${}^{3+}$