Speaker
Description
Molecules have proven to be powerful laboratories to explore unknown aspects of the fundamental forces of nature and to search for physics beyond the standard model. By choosing molecules containing radioactive isotopes with different spins and deformation one can explore aspects of the fundamental forces even further and reach unparalleled enhancement of symmetry-violating properties. Among many potential candidate molecules, Radium-monofluoride (RaF) has emerged as a potent candidate. However, the production of radioactive molecules in general has proven to be challenging and availability of molecular radioactive ion beams has been identified as a bottleneck for future research. Particularly as suitable radioactive partner species have to be produced at large scale online radioactive beam facilities; preventing experiments at local universities laboratories.
In this contribution we introduce the RAdium-Fluride Ion Catcher Instrument (RAFICI) scheme using gas filled stopping-cell and ion trapping technology, and discuss its application as a universal and fast source of short-lived radioactive isotopes for systematic studies of molecules of elements between Z=82 and Z=98 without the need for local nuclear reactors or accelerators.
The scheme was successfully tested at the FRS Ion Catcher at GSI and first offline production of RaF could be shown via gas phase reactions of recoil ions with SF6 inside a versatile RFQ beam line at the FRS Ion Catcher, where Ra-224 ions were harvested following the decay of a Th-228 sample within a gas filled stopping cell. We can show, that the reaction Ra^+2 + SF6 --> RaF^+ + SF5^+ reaches an almost unity conversion efficiency and, with chemical reaction times on the millisecond time scale. This shows that in-trap ion-gas phase reactions are a promising pathway for offline experiments based around RaF. At the FRS Ion Catcher this program can, in principle, also be expanded to all isotopes produced in in-flight fragmentation of U-238, due to the online beam production capabilities at the FRS. A dedicated RAFICI device, currently under commissioning at the University of Edinburgh, enables experiments with radioactive molecules decoupled from online radioactive beam facilities. The scheme can straightforward be expanded for the production of may actinides and 6p to 5f elements and opens research pathways across multiple fields.
| Email address | mreiter@ed.ac.uk |
|---|---|
| Classification | Ion guide, gas catcher, and beam manipulation techniques |
