Determination of the extraction efficiency for $^{233}$U source $\alpha$-recoil ions from the MLL buffer-gas stopping cell

TL;DR

This paper measures the efficiency of extracting and purifying $^{229}$Th recoil ions from a buffer-gas stopping cell after $^{233}$U decay, achieving a 10% efficiency with high mass resolution, and also addresses other decay chain ions.

Contribution

It provides the first quantitative determination of the extraction and purification efficiency for $^{229}$Th$^{3+}$ ions from a buffer-gas stopping cell using combined MCP and alpha detection methods.

Findings

Extraction and purification efficiency for $^{229}$Th$^{3+}$ is about 10%.

Efficiency measurement combines MCP detection and alpha decay observation.

Other recoil ions from decay chains are also characterized.

Abstract

Following the $\alpha$ decay of $^{233}$U, $^{229}$Th recoil ions are shown to be extracted in a significant amount from the MLL buffer-gas stopping cell. The produced recoil ions and subsequent daughter nuclei are mass purified with the help of a customized quadrupole mass spectrometer. The combined extraction and mass-purification efficiency for $^{229}$Th$^{3+}$ is determined via MCP-based measurements and via the direct detection of the $^{229}$Th $\alpha$ decay. A large value of $(10\pm2)$\% for the combined extraction and mass-purification efficiency of $^{229}$Th$^{3+}$ is obtained at a mass resolution of about 1 u/e. In addition to $^{229}$Th, also other $\alpha$-recoil ions of the $^{233,232}$U decay chains are addressed.