Alkali ion-to-neutral atom converter for the magneto-optical trap of a radioactive isotope

Abstract

We have developed a unique neutralizer device that uses an yttrium target surrounded by a platinum wall to magneto-optically trap radioactive atoms. In general, the radioactive nucleus produced in a nuclear reaction is extracted and transported in ion form. For the magneto-optical trap, thermal neutralization must occur on the surface of a metal with a small work function. The converter can produce a neutral atomic beam with small angular divergence that, given the recycling of atoms and ions, converts ions into neutral atoms with remarkable efficiency. We demonstrated the ion neutralization process using stable rubidium and confirmed $10^6$ neutralized atoms in the magneto-optical trap. Additionally, the experiment using francium demonstrated the obtaining of neutralized francium atoms.

References in corpus (5)

• Violations of fundamental symmetries in atoms and tests of unification theories of elementary particles
• A High Flux Source of Cold Rubidium
• Tensor interaction constraints from beta decay recoil spin asymmetry of trapped atoms
• Preliminary studies for anapole moment measurements in rubidium and francium
• Isotope Shifts in the 7s$\to$8s Transition of Francium: Measurements and Comparison to \textit{ab initio} Theory