PSILOGO

Laboratory for Particle Physics (LTP)


LTP Colloquium

Resonance Ionization Laser Ion Sources and their Applications — Efficiency and Selectivity at on- and off-line radioactive Ion Beam Facilities

Thursday, May 08, 2025, 16:00
WHGA Auditorium

Klaus Wendt, Mainz University

Abstract:
The resonance ionization laser ion sources RILIS, pioneered by V.S. Letokhov and his group in the 1980ties, have since found wide applications at all on-line isotope separator facilities worldwide. This success is based on the excellent specifications of ultimate ionization efficiency, realized for most elements of the periodic table, combined with very high selectivity achieved by suppressing unwanted isobars to a minimum in the ionization process.

The advent of tunable lasers with high power, high repetition rate and easy operation, which cover the entire spectral range from UV to far IR and which can universally be adapted to individual atomic spectra and scientific tasks, has led to further superb progress in this field in recent decades. In addition to the efficient production of pure ion beams of radioisotopes for fundamentals studies or nuclear medicine, e.g. at the CERN radioactive beam facilities (RIB) ISOLDE (on-line) or MEDICIS (off-line), or the collection of ultrapure radioisotope samples as calibration sources, carried out e.g. at the RISIKO off-line RIB at University of Mainz, meaningful optical spectroscopy within the laser ion source unit has become possible. By adequate design of the laser-atom interaction region and adaptation of the laser specifications, high-resolution spectroscopy has been demonstrated. In this way the basic tasks of ion beam generation or studies on atomic physics data of rare species today is complemented by direct measurements of nuclear ground state properties extracted from optical hyperfine structures and isotope shifts. An overview on the present status of the RILIS technique covering recent developments on ion source units and laser optimizations will be given together with examples on applications in rare radioisotope purification or fundamental spectroscopy along the periodic table from 53Mn up to 257Fm.