Alpha spectrometric characterization of thin ${}^{233}$U sources for ${}^{229\text{(m)}}$Th production

Abstract

Four different techniques were applied for the production of ${}^{233}$U alpha recoil ion sources, providing ${}^{229}$Th ions. They were compared with respect to a minimum energy spread of the ${}^{229}$Th recoil ions, using the emitted alpha particles as an indicator. The techniques of Molecular Plating, Drop-on-Demand inkjet printing, chelation from dilute nitric acid solution on chemically functionalized silicon surfaces, and self-adsorption on passivated titanium surfaces were used. All fabricated sources were characterized by using alpha spectrometry, radiographic imaging, and scanning electron microscopy. A direct validation for the estimated recoil ion rate was obtained by collecting ${}^{228}$Th recoil ions from ${}^{232}$U recoil ion sources prepared by self-adsorption and Molecular Plating. The chelation and the self-adsorption based approaches appear most promising for the preparation of recoil ion sources delivering monochromatic recoil ions.

arXiv comment20 pages, 14 figures, 11 tables, ahead of print at Radiochim. Acta (2020)

References in corpus (8)

• 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
• Advanced simulation code for alpha spectrometry
• Trapping and sympathetic cooling of single thorium ions for spectroscopy
• Catching, trapping and in-situ-identification of thorium ions inside Coulomb crystals of ${}^{40}$Ca${}^{+}$ ions
• Development of a recoil ion source providing slow Th ions including ${}^{229(m)}$Th in a broad charge state distribution
• Characterization of ${}^{233}$U alpha recoil sources for ${}^{229(m)}$Th beam production

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