Towards nuclear excitation via electron capture in an electron beam ion trap

Nuclear Excitation via Electron Capture (NEEC) is the inverse process of internal electron conversion, where a free electron is captured into an atomic vacancy simultaneously exciting the nucleus to a higher-energy state. This process occurs naturally in hot astrophysical environments, and can excite nuclei in these isomeric states to shorter-lived states that would decay at a much faster rate than under terrestrial conditions, thus affecting reaction flows or survival rate of nuclei. Since NEEC is a resonant process, experimental access in the lab to study these cases requires strong atomic charge-state control over the sample, as well as careful selection and preparation of nuclear states that may be compatible with efficient electron recombination. Using an open-geometry electron beam ion trap (EBIT) in the TITAN experiment at the TRIUMF facility we are able to perform these studies with a high level of control and sensitivity. In this thesis a method of triggering NEEC in ^129mSb is discussed along with the development of the experimental hardware to perform the measurements. This thesis also presents new high-precision mass measurements for ³³Mg, ³⁴Mg, ³⁵Mg, and ³³Na. These mass measurements performed using the TITAN Multi-Reflection Time-of-flight Mass Spectrometer (MR-TOF-MS) to demonstrate the high resolving power of this instrument along with its potential use for reducing contamination in the rare isotope beam prior to injection into the EBIT.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Physics

Grantor dc:publisher

Colorado School of Mines. Arthur Lakes Library

Year dc:date.issued

2022

Author dc:creator

• Ringuette, Jon

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Leach, Kyle

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Greife, Uwe
• Wiencke, Lawrence
• Shafer, Jenifer C.
• Sarazin, Frederic

• EBIT
• MR-TOF
• NEEC

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright of the original work is retained by the author.

Language dc:language.iso

eng, English

Identifier

T 9407

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.mines.edu:11124/15512