Off-line studies of the laser ionization of yttrium at the IGISOL facility

TL;DR

This paper reports on the development and testing of a laser ion source for yttrium at IGISOL, highlighting a new laser scheme, the impact of vacuum conditions, and a model for impurity analysis.

Contribution

It introduces a new dye-Ti:Sapphire laser scheme and a single shot model for impurity detection in laser ionization of yttrium.

Findings

Successful implementation of the new laser scheme.

Gas purity and vacuum pressure significantly affect ionization efficiency.

The model effectively estimates impurity levels in the gas cell.

Abstract

A laser ion source is under development at the IGISOL facility, Jyvaskyla, in order to address deficiencies in the ion guide technique. The key elements of interest are those of a refractory nature, whose isotopes and isomers are widely studied using both laser spectroscopic and high precision mass measurement techniques. Yttrium has been the first element of choice for the new laser ion source. In this work we present a new coupled dye-Ti:Sapphire laser scheme and give a detailed discussion of the results obtained from laser ionization of yttrium atoms produced in an ion guide via joule heating of a filament. The importance of not only gas purity, but indeed the baseline vacuum pressure in the environment outside the ion guide is discussed in light of the fast gas phase chemistry seen in the yttrium system. A single laser shot model is introduced and is compared to the experimental data in order to extract the level of impurities within the gas cell.