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Gnaser H, Martschini M, Leimbach D, Karls J, Hanstorp D, Indrajith S, Ji M, Martini P, Simonsson A, Zettergren H, Schmidt HT, Golser R. Spontaneous and photo-induced decay processes of WF 5 - and HfF 5 - molecular anions in a cryogenic storage ring. J Chem Phys 2022; 157:044304. [PMID: 35922356 DOI: 10.1063/5.0097896] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Spontaneous and photo-induced decay processes of HfF5 - and WF5 - molecular anions were investigated in the Double ElectroStatic Ion Ring ExpEriment (DESIREE). The observation of these reactions over long time scales (several tens of ms) was possible due to the cryogenic temperatures (13 K) and the extremely low residual gas pressure (∼10-14 mbar) of DESIREE. For photo-induced reactions, laser wavelengths in the range 240 to 450 nm were employed. Both anion species were found to undergo spontaneous decay via electron detachment or fragmentation. After some ms, radiative cooling processes were observed to lower the probability for further decay through these processes. Photo-induced reactions indicate the existence of an energy threshold for WF5 - anions at about 3.5 eV, above which the neutralization yield increases strongly. By contrast, HfF5 - ions exhibit essentially no enhanced production of neutrals upon photon interaction, even for the highest photon energy used in this experiment (∼5.2 eV). This suppression will be highly beneficial for the efficient detection, in accelerator mass spectrometry, of the extremely rare isotope 182Hf using the 182HfF5 - anion while effectively reducing the interfering stable isobar 182W in the analyte ion 182WF5 -. The radionuclide 182Hf is of great relevance in astrophysical environments as it constitutes a potential candidate to study the events of nucleosynthesis that may have taken place in the vicinity of the solar system several million years ago.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hubert Gnaser
- University of Vienna, Faculty of Physics, Isotope Physics - VERA Laboratory, A-1090 Wien, Austria
| | - Martin Martschini
- University of Vienna, Faculty of Physics, Isotope Physics - VERA Laboratory, A-1090 Wien, Austria
| | - David Leimbach
- Department of Physics, University of Gothenburg, SE-41296 Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Julia Karls
- Department of Physics, University of Gothenburg, SE-41296 Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Dag Hanstorp
- Department of Physics, University of Gothenburg, SE-41296 Gothenburg, Sweden
| | | | - Mingchao Ji
- Department of Physics, Stockholm University, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Paul Martini
- Department of Physics, Stockholm University, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Ansgar Simonsson
- Department of Physics, Stockholm University, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden
| | | | - Henning T Schmidt
- Department of Physics, Stockholm University, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Robin Golser
- University of Vienna, Faculty of Physics, Isotope Physics - VERA Laboratory, A-1090 Wien, Austria
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