The concept of dense and hot plasmas can be used to build up powerful and brilliant radiation sources in the soft X-ray and extreme ultraviolet spectral range. Such sources are used for nanoscale imaging and structuring applications, such as EUV lithography in the semiconductor industry. An understanding of light-generating atomic processes and radiation transport within the plasma is mandatory for optimization. The basic principles and technical concepts using either a pulsed laser or a gas discharge for plasma generation are presented, and critical aspects in the ionization dynamics are outlined within the framework of a simplified atomic physics model.
{"title":"Extreme Ultraviolet Radiation Sources from Dense Plasmas","authors":"K. Bergmann","doi":"10.3390/atoms11090118","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/atoms11090118","url":null,"abstract":"The concept of dense and hot plasmas can be used to build up powerful and brilliant radiation sources in the soft X-ray and extreme ultraviolet spectral range. Such sources are used for nanoscale imaging and structuring applications, such as EUV lithography in the semiconductor industry. An understanding of light-generating atomic processes and radiation transport within the plasma is mandatory for optimization. The basic principles and technical concepts using either a pulsed laser or a gas discharge for plasma generation are presented, and critical aspects in the ionization dynamics are outlined within the framework of a simplified atomic physics model.","PeriodicalId":8629,"journal":{"name":"Atoms","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2023-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44325110","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
D. Bonatsos, A. Martinou, Spyridon K. Peroulis, T. Mertzimekis, N. Minkov
The last decade has seen a rapid growth in our understanding of the microscopic origins of shape coexistence, assisted by the new data provided by the modern radioactive ion beam facilities built worldwide. Islands of the nuclear chart in which shape coexistence can occur have been identified, and the different microscopic particle–hole excitation mechanisms leading to neutron-induced or proton-induced shape coexistence have been clarified. The relation of shape coexistence to the islands of inversion, appearing in light nuclei, to the new spin-aligned phase appearing in N=Z nuclei, as well as to shape/phase transitions occurring in medium mass and heavy nuclei, has been understood. In the present review, these developments are considered within the shell-model and mean-field approaches, as well as by symmetry methods. In addition, based on systematics of data, as well as on symmetry considerations, quantitative rules are developed, predicting regions in which shape coexistence can appear, as a possible guide for further experimental efforts that can help in improving our understanding of the details of the nucleon–nucleon interaction, as well as of its modifications occurring far from stability.
{"title":"Shape Coexistence in Even–Even Nuclei: A Theoretical Overview","authors":"D. Bonatsos, A. Martinou, Spyridon K. Peroulis, T. Mertzimekis, N. Minkov","doi":"10.3390/atoms11090117","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/atoms11090117","url":null,"abstract":"The last decade has seen a rapid growth in our understanding of the microscopic origins of shape coexistence, assisted by the new data provided by the modern radioactive ion beam facilities built worldwide. Islands of the nuclear chart in which shape coexistence can occur have been identified, and the different microscopic particle–hole excitation mechanisms leading to neutron-induced or proton-induced shape coexistence have been clarified. The relation of shape coexistence to the islands of inversion, appearing in light nuclei, to the new spin-aligned phase appearing in N=Z nuclei, as well as to shape/phase transitions occurring in medium mass and heavy nuclei, has been understood. In the present review, these developments are considered within the shell-model and mean-field approaches, as well as by symmetry methods. In addition, based on systematics of data, as well as on symmetry considerations, quantitative rules are developed, predicting regions in which shape coexistence can appear, as a possible guide for further experimental efforts that can help in improving our understanding of the details of the nucleon–nucleon interaction, as well as of its modifications occurring far from stability.","PeriodicalId":8629,"journal":{"name":"Atoms","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2023-08-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42916847","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
P. Böhm, Y. Hrabar, D. Rudolph, P. Golubev, L. Sarmiento, Helena M. Albers, John T. Anderson, M. Bentley, M. Carpenter, C. Chiara, P. Copp, U. Forsberg, Tianheng Huang, H. Jayatissa, T. Lauritsen, C. Müller-Gatermann, X. Pereira-Lopez, W. Reviol, D. Seweryniak, S. Stolze, S. Uthayakumaar, G. Wilson, Jin Wu
High-spin nuclear isomers in N≈Z nuclei between doubly magic 40Ca and 56Ni provide an excellent testing ground for the nuclear shell model and questions related to isospin symmetry breaking in the vicinity of the proton drip line. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the possibility of weak electromagnetic decay branches along the decay paths of the 6526-keV 10+ isomer in 54Fe. The isomer was strongly populated by means of the fusion-evaporation reaction 24Mg(36Ar,α2p)54mFe. The Gammasphere array was used to detect γ-ray cascades emitted from the isomeric state. By means of γγγ coincidences, weak non-yrast decay branches can be discriminated, with the isomer’s half-life confirmed at T1/2=363(4) ns. The yrast 61+→21+ E4 cross-over transition was interrogated. The observations are compared with shell-model calculations.
{"title":"Search for Weak Side Branches in the Electromagnetic Decay Paths of the 6526-keV 10+ Isomer in 54Fe","authors":"P. Böhm, Y. Hrabar, D. Rudolph, P. Golubev, L. Sarmiento, Helena M. Albers, John T. Anderson, M. Bentley, M. Carpenter, C. Chiara, P. Copp, U. Forsberg, Tianheng Huang, H. Jayatissa, T. Lauritsen, C. Müller-Gatermann, X. Pereira-Lopez, W. Reviol, D. Seweryniak, S. Stolze, S. Uthayakumaar, G. Wilson, Jin Wu","doi":"10.3390/atoms11090116","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/atoms11090116","url":null,"abstract":"High-spin nuclear isomers in N≈Z nuclei between doubly magic 40Ca and 56Ni provide an excellent testing ground for the nuclear shell model and questions related to isospin symmetry breaking in the vicinity of the proton drip line. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the possibility of weak electromagnetic decay branches along the decay paths of the 6526-keV 10+ isomer in 54Fe. The isomer was strongly populated by means of the fusion-evaporation reaction 24Mg(36Ar,α2p)54mFe. The Gammasphere array was used to detect γ-ray cascades emitted from the isomeric state. By means of γγγ coincidences, weak non-yrast decay branches can be discriminated, with the isomer’s half-life confirmed at T1/2=363(4) ns. The yrast 61+→21+ E4 cross-over transition was interrogated. The observations are compared with shell-model calculations.","PeriodicalId":8629,"journal":{"name":"Atoms","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2023-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46886554","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sayon Satpati, T. Roy, A. Anoop, Venkatesan S. Thimmakondu, S. Ghosal
Fourteen highly reactive isomers of C5H and their ionic counterparts have been theoretically investigated using density functional theory (DFT) and coupled-cluster methods. The linear C5H (l-C5H) radical, pent-1,3-diyn-5-yliden-1-yl (1), along with its cationic form and the cyclic C5H (c-C5H), 1-ethynylcycloprop-1-en-2-yl-3-ylidene (2), have recently been detected in the Taurus Molecular Cloud-1. By using the UCCSD(T)/cc-pCVTZ level of theory, the calculated rotational constants and other spectroscopic parameters are found to be in good agreement with the available experimental data for isomers 1 and 2. Therefore, the current theoretical study may assist synthetic chemists and molecular spectroscopists in detecting other isomers in the laboratory or in the interstellar medium (ISM). Thermodynamically favorable rearrangement schemes for forming low-lying isomers 1, 2, and 3 have also been studied theoretically, and (2λ3-cycloprop-2-en-1-ylidene)ethenylidene (3) with a large dipole moment (μ = 4.73 Debye) is proposed to be a plausible candidate for detection in the ISM.
{"title":"Energetic and Spectroscopic Properties of the Low-Lying Isomers of C5H: A High-Level Ab Initio Study","authors":"Sayon Satpati, T. Roy, A. Anoop, Venkatesan S. Thimmakondu, S. Ghosal","doi":"10.3390/atoms11090115","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/atoms11090115","url":null,"abstract":"Fourteen highly reactive isomers of C5H and their ionic counterparts have been theoretically investigated using density functional theory (DFT) and coupled-cluster methods. The linear C5H (l-C5H) radical, pent-1,3-diyn-5-yliden-1-yl (1), along with its cationic form and the cyclic C5H (c-C5H), 1-ethynylcycloprop-1-en-2-yl-3-ylidene (2), have recently been detected in the Taurus Molecular Cloud-1. By using the UCCSD(T)/cc-pCVTZ level of theory, the calculated rotational constants and other spectroscopic parameters are found to be in good agreement with the available experimental data for isomers 1 and 2. Therefore, the current theoretical study may assist synthetic chemists and molecular spectroscopists in detecting other isomers in the laboratory or in the interstellar medium (ISM). Thermodynamically favorable rearrangement schemes for forming low-lying isomers 1, 2, and 3 have also been studied theoretically, and (2λ3-cycloprop-2-en-1-ylidene)ethenylidene (3) with a large dipole moment (μ = 4.73 Debye) is proposed to be a plausible candidate for detection in the ISM.","PeriodicalId":8629,"journal":{"name":"Atoms","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2023-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44494299","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
For homogeneous driving, half cycle harmonics and its corresponding half cycle cutoff (HCO) show prominent spectral features, allowing one to produce an isolated attosecond pulse with suitable filtering, or vice versa the retrieval of the driving pulse itself. The temporal profile and spatial dependence of the inhomogeneously enhanced field are two important factors that determine the high harmonic generation (HHG) near a plasmonic nanostructure. This leads us to the question of how the HHG spectra and, in particular, the corresponding half cycle harmonics modify with different types of inhomogeneously enhanced fields. To elucidate this, we have made a comparative study of the HHG in three different types of inhomogeneously enhanced laser pulses by employing the time-dependent Schrödinger equation in one dimension. Within our chosen parameter range, the HCO in cutoff and mid-plateau regimes shift towards higher order with the increase of strength of the inhomogeneity in isotropic case. In anisotropic inhomogeneity, the cutoff HCO shifts towards the higher order but the mid-plateau HCO shifts towards lower order with the increase of strength of inhomogeneity. With increasing carrier envelope phase (CEP), the enhanced HCO in the lower-order harmonic region shifts towards higher orders. This shift is nearly linear from near the above threshold to mid-plateau region and becomes saturated in the near cutoff region. The harmonic spectra is modulo-π periodic for the isotropic inhomogeneity and it is modulo-2π periodic for the anisotropic inhomogeneity. This extension of periodicity increases the tunability of the enhanced HCO harmonics with CEP in the anisotropic inhomogeneity than the CEP tuning of the HCO harmonics in the isotropic inhomogeneity or vice versa the retrieval of CEP.
{"title":"Tunability of Half Cycle Cutoff Harmonics with Inhomogeneously Enhanced Laser Pulse","authors":"A. Mandal","doi":"10.3390/atoms11080113","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/atoms11080113","url":null,"abstract":"For homogeneous driving, half cycle harmonics and its corresponding half cycle cutoff (HCO) show prominent spectral features, allowing one to produce an isolated attosecond pulse with suitable filtering, or vice versa the retrieval of the driving pulse itself. The temporal profile and spatial dependence of the inhomogeneously enhanced field are two important factors that determine the high harmonic generation (HHG) near a plasmonic nanostructure. This leads us to the question of how the HHG spectra and, in particular, the corresponding half cycle harmonics modify with different types of inhomogeneously enhanced fields. To elucidate this, we have made a comparative study of the HHG in three different types of inhomogeneously enhanced laser pulses by employing the time-dependent Schrödinger equation in one dimension. Within our chosen parameter range, the HCO in cutoff and mid-plateau regimes shift towards higher order with the increase of strength of the inhomogeneity in isotropic case. In anisotropic inhomogeneity, the cutoff HCO shifts towards the higher order but the mid-plateau HCO shifts towards lower order with the increase of strength of inhomogeneity. With increasing carrier envelope phase (CEP), the enhanced HCO in the lower-order harmonic region shifts towards higher orders. This shift is nearly linear from near the above threshold to mid-plateau region and becomes saturated in the near cutoff region. The harmonic spectra is modulo-π periodic for the isotropic inhomogeneity and it is modulo-2π periodic for the anisotropic inhomogeneity. This extension of periodicity increases the tunability of the enhanced HCO harmonics with CEP in the anisotropic inhomogeneity than the CEP tuning of the HCO harmonics in the isotropic inhomogeneity or vice versa the retrieval of CEP.","PeriodicalId":8629,"journal":{"name":"Atoms","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2023-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69556026","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The ground state and photoionization properties of Nax (x = 20, 40, and 92) clusters are investigated using a method based on density functional theory (DFT) in a spherical jellium frame. Two different exchange–correlation treatments with the Gunnarsson–Lundqvist parametrization are used: (i) the electron self-interaction correction (SIC) scheme and (ii) the van Leeuwen–Baerends (LB94) scheme based on the gradient of the electron density. The shapes of the mean-field potentials and bound state properties, obtained in the two schemes, qualitatively agree, but differ in the details. The effect of the schemes on the photoionization dynamics, calculated in linear response time-dependent DFT is compared, in which the broader features are found to be universal. The general similarity of the results in SIC and LB94 demonstrates the reliability of DFT treatments. The study further elucidates the evolution of the ground state and ionization description as a function of the cluster size.
{"title":"Density Functional Treatment of Photoionization of Sodium Clusters: Effects of Cluster Size and Exchange–Correlation Framework","authors":"R. Shaik, H. R. Varma, H. Chakraborty","doi":"10.3390/atoms11080114","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/atoms11080114","url":null,"abstract":"The ground state and photoionization properties of Nax (x = 20, 40, and 92) clusters are investigated using a method based on density functional theory (DFT) in a spherical jellium frame. Two different exchange–correlation treatments with the Gunnarsson–Lundqvist parametrization are used: (i) the electron self-interaction correction (SIC) scheme and (ii) the van Leeuwen–Baerends (LB94) scheme based on the gradient of the electron density. The shapes of the mean-field potentials and bound state properties, obtained in the two schemes, qualitatively agree, but differ in the details. The effect of the schemes on the photoionization dynamics, calculated in linear response time-dependent DFT is compared, in which the broader features are found to be universal. The general similarity of the results in SIC and LB94 demonstrates the reliability of DFT treatments. The study further elucidates the evolution of the ground state and ionization description as a function of the cluster size.","PeriodicalId":8629,"journal":{"name":"Atoms","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2023-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43129027","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
We extend the two-centre wave-packet convergent close-coupling approach to doubly differential ionisation in proton collisions with H2 to intermediate projectile energies. The results for the doubly differential cross section at projectile energies from 48 to 200 keV are presented as a function of the energy and angle of emitted electrons. We consider a wide range of emission angles from 10 to 160∘, and compare our results to experimental data, where available. Excellent agreement between the presented results and the experimental data was found, especially for emission angles less than 130∘. For very large backward emission angles our calculations tended to slightly overestimate the experimental data when energetic electrons are ejected and the doubly differential cross section is very small. This discrepancy may be due to the large uncertainties in the experimental data in this region and the model target description. Overall, the present results show significant improvement upon currently available theoretical results and provide a consistently accurate description of this process across a wide range of incident energies.
{"title":"Calculation of Energy and Angular Distributions of Electrons Produced in Intermediate-Energy p + H2 Collisions","authors":"C. Plowman, Kade H. Spicer, A. Kadyrov","doi":"10.3390/atoms11080112","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/atoms11080112","url":null,"abstract":"We extend the two-centre wave-packet convergent close-coupling approach to doubly differential ionisation in proton collisions with H2 to intermediate projectile energies. The results for the doubly differential cross section at projectile energies from 48 to 200 keV are presented as a function of the energy and angle of emitted electrons. We consider a wide range of emission angles from 10 to 160∘, and compare our results to experimental data, where available. Excellent agreement between the presented results and the experimental data was found, especially for emission angles less than 130∘. For very large backward emission angles our calculations tended to slightly overestimate the experimental data when energetic electrons are ejected and the doubly differential cross section is very small. This discrepancy may be due to the large uncertainties in the experimental data in this region and the model target description. Overall, the present results show significant improvement upon currently available theoretical results and provide a consistently accurate description of this process across a wide range of incident energies.","PeriodicalId":8629,"journal":{"name":"Atoms","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2023-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47690058","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The dynamic response of a Bell-and-Bloom magnetometer to a parallel (to the bias field) time-dependent field is studied by means of a model that goes beyond the commonly assumed quasi-static regime. The findings unveil features that are related to the parametric nature of the considered system. It is shown that for low-amplitude time-dependent fields, different operating conditions are possible and that, besides the commonly reported low-pass filter behavior, a band-pass response emerges. Moreover, we show that a larger amplitude of the time-dependent field makes the parametric nature of the system appear more clearly in the output signal. A harmonic analysis of the latter is numerically performed to highlight and characterize these emerging features.
{"title":"Dynamic Response of a Light-Modulated Magnetometer to Time-Dependent Fields","authors":"G. Bevilacqua, V. Biancalana, Y. Dancheva","doi":"10.3390/atoms11080111","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/atoms11080111","url":null,"abstract":"The dynamic response of a Bell-and-Bloom magnetometer to a parallel (to the bias field) time-dependent field is studied by means of a model that goes beyond the commonly assumed quasi-static regime. The findings unveil features that are related to the parametric nature of the considered system. It is shown that for low-amplitude time-dependent fields, different operating conditions are possible and that, besides the commonly reported low-pass filter behavior, a band-pass response emerges. Moreover, we show that a larger amplitude of the time-dependent field makes the parametric nature of the system appear more clearly in the output signal. A harmonic analysis of the latter is numerically performed to highlight and characterize these emerging features.","PeriodicalId":8629,"journal":{"name":"Atoms","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2023-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46201665","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Polarons, quasiparticles resulting from the interaction between an impurity and the collective excitations of a medium, play a fundamental role in physics, mainly because they represent an essential building block for understanding more complex many-body phenomena. In this manuscript, we study the spectral properties of a single impurity mixed with identical bosons in a one-dimensional lattice with power-law hopping. In particular, based on the so-called T-matrix approximation, we show the existence of well-defined quasiparticle branches for several tunneling ranges and for both repulsive and attractive impurity-boson interactions. Furthermore, we demonstrate the persistence of the attractive polaron branch when the impurity-boson bound state is absorbed into the two-body continuum and that the attractive polaron becomes more robust as the range of the hopping increases. The results discussed here are relevant for the understanding of the equilibrium properties of quantum systems with power-law interactions.
{"title":"Bose Polaron in a One-Dimensional Lattice with Power-Law Hopping","authors":"G. A. Domínguez-Castro","doi":"10.3390/atoms11080110","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/atoms11080110","url":null,"abstract":"Polarons, quasiparticles resulting from the interaction between an impurity and the collective excitations of a medium, play a fundamental role in physics, mainly because they represent an essential building block for understanding more complex many-body phenomena. In this manuscript, we study the spectral properties of a single impurity mixed with identical bosons in a one-dimensional lattice with power-law hopping. In particular, based on the so-called T-matrix approximation, we show the existence of well-defined quasiparticle branches for several tunneling ranges and for both repulsive and attractive impurity-boson interactions. Furthermore, we demonstrate the persistence of the attractive polaron branch when the impurity-boson bound state is absorbed into the two-body continuum and that the attractive polaron becomes more robust as the range of the hopping increases. The results discussed here are relevant for the understanding of the equilibrium properties of quantum systems with power-law interactions.","PeriodicalId":8629,"journal":{"name":"Atoms","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2023-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47482277","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kevin Scharl, Shiqian Ding, Georg Holthoff, M. I. Hussain, S. Kraemer, Lilli Löbell, Daniel Moritz, Tamila Rozibakieva, B. Seiferle, Florian Zacherl, P. Thirolf
For the realization of an optical nuclear clock, the first isomeric excited state of thorium-229 (229mTh) is currently the only candidate due to its exceptionally low-lying excitation energy (8.338±0.024 eV). Such a nuclear clock holds promise not only to be a very precise metrological device but also to extend the knowledge of fundamental physics studies, such as dark matter research or variations in fundamental constants. Considerable progress was achieved in recent years in characterizing 229mTh from its first direct identification in 2016 to the only recent observation of the long-sought-after radiative decay channel. So far, nuclear resonance as the crucial parameter of a nuclear frequency standard has not yet been determined with laser-spectroscopic precision. To determine another yet unknown basic property of the thorium isomer and to further specify the linewidth of its ground-state transition, a measurement of the ionic lifetime of the isomer is in preparation. Theory and experimental investigations predict the lifetime to be 103–104 s. To precisely target this property using hyperfine structure spectroscopy, an experimental setup is currently being commissioned at LMU Munich. It is based on a cryogenic Paul trap providing long-enough storage times for 229mTh ions, that will be sympathetically cooled with 88Sr+. This article presents a concept for an ionic lifetime measurement and discusses the laser-optical part of a setup specifically developed for this purpose.
{"title":"Setup for the Ionic Lifetime Measurement of the 229mTh3+ Nuclear Clock Isomer","authors":"Kevin Scharl, Shiqian Ding, Georg Holthoff, M. I. Hussain, S. Kraemer, Lilli Löbell, Daniel Moritz, Tamila Rozibakieva, B. Seiferle, Florian Zacherl, P. Thirolf","doi":"10.3390/atoms11070108","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/atoms11070108","url":null,"abstract":"For the realization of an optical nuclear clock, the first isomeric excited state of thorium-229 (229mTh) is currently the only candidate due to its exceptionally low-lying excitation energy (8.338±0.024 eV). Such a nuclear clock holds promise not only to be a very precise metrological device but also to extend the knowledge of fundamental physics studies, such as dark matter research or variations in fundamental constants. Considerable progress was achieved in recent years in characterizing 229mTh from its first direct identification in 2016 to the only recent observation of the long-sought-after radiative decay channel. So far, nuclear resonance as the crucial parameter of a nuclear frequency standard has not yet been determined with laser-spectroscopic precision. To determine another yet unknown basic property of the thorium isomer and to further specify the linewidth of its ground-state transition, a measurement of the ionic lifetime of the isomer is in preparation. Theory and experimental investigations predict the lifetime to be 103–104 s. To precisely target this property using hyperfine structure spectroscopy, an experimental setup is currently being commissioned at LMU Munich. It is based on a cryogenic Paul trap providing long-enough storage times for 229mTh ions, that will be sympathetically cooled with 88Sr+. This article presents a concept for an ionic lifetime measurement and discusses the laser-optical part of a setup specifically developed for this purpose.","PeriodicalId":8629,"journal":{"name":"Atoms","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2023-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42865839","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}