First Use of High Charge States for Mass Measurements of Short-lived Nuclides in a Penning Trap

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the first use of highly-charged ions in Penning trap mass measurements of short-lived nuclides, significantly improving precision and enabling new insights into nuclear properties.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method combining highly-charged ions with Ramsey excitation in Penning traps for short-lived nuclides, achieving 1-2 orders of magnitude better precision.

Findings

Successful mass measurement of short-lived 74Rb with high charge states.

Achieved 1-2 orders of magnitude improvement in measurement precision.

Enhanced understanding of nuclear properties of neutron-deficient isotopes.

Abstract

Penning trap mass measurements of short-lived nuclides have been performed for the first time with highly-charged ions (HCI), using the TITAN facility at TRIUMF. Compared to singly-charged ions, this provides an improvement in experimental precision that scales with the charge state q. Neutron-deficient Rb-isotopes have been charge bred in an electron beam ion trap to q = 8 - 12+ prior to injection into the Penning trap. In combination with the Ramsey excitation scheme, this unique setup creating low energy, highly-charged ions at a radioactive beam facility opens the door to unrivalled precision with gains of 1-2 orders of magnitude. The method is particularly suited for short-lived nuclides such as the superallowed {\beta} emitter 74Rb (T1/2 = 65 ms). The determination of its atomic mass and an improved QEC-value are presented.