# Imaging recoil ions from optical collisions between ultracold, metastable neon isotopes

## TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel experimental setup combining velocity-map imaging with ultracold metastable neon to analyze recoil ions, enabling detailed study of optical collisions and potential energy landscapes.

## Contribution

It presents a new, simple device for measuring recoil-ion distributions and branching ratios in ultracold neon collisions, facilitating precision nuclear physics experiments.

## Key findings

- Measured recoil-ion energy distributions
- Determined branching ratios for Penning ionization
- Extracted potential depth of dimer states

## Abstract

We present an experimental scheme which combines the well established method of velocity-mapimaging, with a cold trapped metastable neon target. The device is used for obtaining the branching ratios and recoil-ion energy distributions for the penning ionization process in optical collisions of ultracold metastable neon. The potential depth of the highly excited dimer potential is extracted and compared with theoretical calculations. The simplicity to construct, characterize and apply such a device, makes it a unique tool for the low-energy nuclear physics community, enabling opportunities for precision measurements in beta- and beta-delayed-neutron decays of cold, trapped, short-lived radioactive isotopes.