Alternative approach to populate and study the ^229 Th nuclear clock isomer
A new approach to observe the radiative decay of the ^229 Th nuclear isomer, and to determine its energy and radiative lifetime, is presented. Situated at a uniquely low excitation energy, this nuclear state might be a key ingredient for the development of a nuclear clock or a nuclear laser and, the...
| Autores: | , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2019 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) |
| Repositorio: | Docta Complutense |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/88349 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/88349 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | 539.1 Laser Spectroscopy States Decay Excitation Transition Física nuclear 2207 Física Atómica y Nuclear |
| Sumario: | A new approach to observe the radiative decay of the ^229 Th nuclear isomer, and to determine its energy and radiative lifetime, is presented. Situated at a uniquely low excitation energy, this nuclear state might be a key ingredient for the development of a nuclear clock or a nuclear laser and, the search for time variations of fundamental constants like the fine structure constant. The isomer's gamma decay towards the ground state will be studied with a high-resolution vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) spectrometer after its production by the beta decay of ^Ac 229. The novel production method presents a number of advantages asserting its competitive nature with respect to the commonly used ^U 233 alpha-decay recoil source. In this paper, a feasibility analysis of this new concept, and an experimental investigation of its key ingredients, using a pure ^Ac 229 ion beam produced at the ISOLDE radioactive beam facility, is reported. |
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