First use of high-frequency intensity modulation of narrow-linewidth laser light and its application in determination of 206,205,204Fr ground-state properties

Pulsed CW laser for long-term spectroscopic measurements at high power in deep-UV

We present a novel technique for in-vacuum cavity-enhanced UV spectroscopy that allows nearly continuous measurements over several days, minimizing mirror degradation caused by high-power UV radiation. Our method relies on pulsing of the cavity's internal power, which increases the UV intensity to maximum only for short periods when the studied atom is within the cavity mode volume while keeping the average power low to prevent mirror degradation. Additionally, this method significantly decreases laser-induced background on charged particle detectors. The described 244 nm laser system is designed for 1S-2S two-photon CW spectroscopy of muonium in the Mu-MASS project. It was tested to provide intracavity powers above 20 W, requiring maintenance only a few times a day. The pulsing technique demonstrates minimal impact on the radiation frequency, with no observed shifts exceeding 15 kHz. Our approach represents a promising new technique for high-precision spectroscopy of atoms in harsh UV environments and demonstrates the feasibility of CW spectroscopy of muonium.

Nuclear Charge Radii of the Nickel Isotopes ^{58-68,70}Ni

Collinear laser spectroscopy is performed on the nickel isotopes ^{58-68,70}Ni, using a time-resolved photon counting system. From the measured isotope shifts, nuclear charge radii R_{c} are extracted and compared to theoretical results. Three ab initio approaches all employ, among others, the chiral interaction NNLO_{sat}, which allows an assessment of their accuracy. We find agreement with experiment in differential radii δ⟨r_{c}^{2}⟩ for all employed ab initio methods and interactions, while the absolute radii are consistent with data only for NNLO_{sat}. Within nuclear density functional theory, the Skyrme functional SV-min matches experiment more closely than the Fayans functional Fy(Δr,HFB).

Laser isotope separation of 176Lu through off-the-shelf lasers

We propose a novel and simple method for the laser isotope separation of ¹⁷⁶Lu a precursor for the production of ¹⁷⁷Lu medical isotope. The physics of the laser-atom interaction has been studied through the dynamics of the atomic level populations using the density matrix formalism. It has been shown that a combination of cw excitation lasers and pulsed ionization laser can be used for the laser isotope separation of ¹⁷⁶Lu. The optimum conditions for the efficient and selective separation of ¹⁷⁶Lu have been derived by studying the time evolution of level population under laser excitation. It has also been shown that, it might be possible to produce ~ 100% enriched ¹⁷⁶Lu isotope at a rate of 5 mg/h, which is higher than all previously reported methods so far. The isotope separation process proposed can be easily adopted using off-the-shelf lasers, for similar atomic systems.

Use of a Continuous Wave Laser and Pockels Cell for Sensitive High-Resolution Collinear Resonance Ionization Spectroscopy

New technical developments have led to a 2 orders of magnitude improvement of the resolution of the collinear resonance ionization spectroscopy (CRIS) experiment at ISOLDE, CERN, without sacrificing the high efficiency of the CRIS technique. Experimental linewidths of 20(1) MHz were obtained on radioactive beams of francium, allowing us for the first time to determine the electric quadrupole moment of the short lived [t_{1/2}=22.0(5) ms] ^{219}Fr Q_{s}=-1.21(2) eb, which would not have been possible without the advantages offered by the new method. This method relies on a continuous-wave laser and an external Pockels cell to produce narrow-band light pulses, required to reach the high resolution in two-step resonance ionization. Exotic nuclei produced at rates of a few hundred ions/s can now be studied with high resolution, allowing detailed studies of the anchor points for nuclear theories.

Hyperfine Anomalies in Fr: Boundaries of the Spherical Single Particle Model

We have measured the hyperfine splitting of the 7P_{1/2} state at the 100 ppm level in Fr isotopes (^{206g,206m,207,209,213,221}Fr) near the closed neutron shell (N=126 in ^{213}Fr). The measurements in five isotopes and a nuclear isomeric state of francium, combined with previous determinations of the 7S_{1/2} splittings, reveal the spatial distribution of the nuclear magnetization, i.e., the Bohr-Weisskopf effect. We compare our results with a simple shell model consisting of unpaired single valence nucleons orbiting a spherical nucleus, and find good agreement over a range of neutron-deficient isotopes (^{207-213}Fr). Also, we find near-constant proton anomalies for several even-N isotopes. This identifies a set of Fr isotopes whose nuclear structure can be understood well enough for the extraction of weak interaction parameters from parity nonconservation studies.

Collinear resonance ionization spectroscopy of neutron-deficient francium isotopes

The magnetic moments and isotope shifts of the neutron-deficient francium isotopes (202-205)Fr were measured at ISOLDE-CERN with use of collinear resonance ionization spectroscopy. A production-to-detection efficiency of 1% was measured for (202)Fr. The background from nonresonant and collisional ionization was maintained below one ion in 10(5) beam particles. Through a comparison of the measured charge radii with predictions from the spherical droplet model, it is concluded that the ground-state wave function remains spherical down to (205)Fr, with a departure observed in (203)Fr (N=116).