Paul trapping of radioactive 6He+ions and direct observation of their beta-decay

TL;DR

This paper reports the successful trapping and direct observation of beta decay in radioactive 6He+ ions using a novel Paul trap, enabling detailed decay studies of short-lived isotopes.

Contribution

Introduction of a new transparent Paul trap capable of trapping and detecting decay products of short-lived radioactive ions.

Findings

Over 10^8 6He+ ions stored over six days

Recorded about 10^5 decay coincidences

Demonstrated extension to other short-lived species

Abstract

We demonstrate that abundant quantities of short-lived beta unstable ions can be trapped in a novel transparent Paul trap and that their decay products can directly be detected in coincidence. Low energy 6He+ (807 ms half-life) ions were extracted from the SPIRAL source at GANIL, then decelerated, cooled and bunched by means of the buffer gas cooling technique. More than 10^8 ions have been stored over a measuring period of six days and about 10^5 decay coincidences between the beta particles and the 6Li^{++} recoiling ions have been recorded. The technique can be extended to other short-lived species, opening new possibilities for trap assisted decay experiments.