# Development of an "$\alpha$-ToF" detector for correlated measurement of atomic masses and decay properties

## TL;DR

The paper introduces an innovative $\alpha$-ToF detector that enables precise, correlated measurements of atomic masses and decay properties of short-lived isotopes, significantly improving background suppression and measurement accuracy.

## Contribution

It presents a novel $\alpha$-ToF detector design that enhances correlated measurement capabilities for radioactive isotopes in mass spectrometry.

## Key findings

- Time-of-flight detection efficiency >90% for 5.48 MeV $\alpha$-rays
- Time resolution of 251.5(68) ps achieved
- Effective resolution of mixed $\alpha$ sources in 2D spectrum

## Abstract

We have developed a novel detector, referred to as an "$\alpha$-ToF detector", for correlated measurements of atomic masses and decay properties of low-yield, short-lived radioactive isotopes using a multi-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrograph. By correlating measured time-of-flight signals with decay events, it will be possible to suppress background events and obtain accurate, high-precision mass values even in cases of very low event rates. An offline test of the $\alpha$-ToF detector has shown that the time-of-flight detection efficiency for 5.48~MeV $\alpha$-rays is more than 90\% and yields a time resolution of 251.5(68)~ps and an energy resolution of 141.1(9)~keV. Using a two-dimensional spectrum of the correlated $\alpha$-ray energy and time-of-flight, the $\alpha$-rays from mixed $\alpha$ sources could be fairly well resolved.