Paul Trapping of Radioactive {sup 6}He{sup +} Ions and Direct Observation of Their {beta} Decay

Journal Article · Fri Nov 21 00:00:00 EST 2008 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVLETT.101.212504· OSTI ID:21179927

Flechard, X; Lienard, E; Mery, A; Rodriguez, D; Ban, G; Durand, D; Duval, F; Herbane, M; Labalme, M; Mauger, F; Naviliat-Cuncic, O; Velten, Ph ^[1]; Thomas, J C ^[2]

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1. LPC-Caen, ENSICAEN, Universite de Caen, CNRS/IN2P3-ENSI, Caen (France)
2. GANIL, CEA/DSM-CNRS/IN2P3, Caen (France)

We demonstrate that abundant quantities of short-lived {beta} unstable ions can be trapped in a novel transparent Paul trap and that their decay products can directly be detected in coincidence. Low energy {sup 6}He{sup +} (807 ms half-life) ions were extracted from the SPIRAL source at GANIL, then decelerated, cooled, and bunched by means of the buffer gas cooling technique. More than 10{sup 8} ions have been stored over a measuring period of six days, and about 10{sup 5} decay coincidences between the beta particles and the {sup 6}Li{sup ++} recoiling ions have been recorded. The technique can be extended to other short-lived species, opening new possibilities for trap assisted decay experiments.

• OSTI ID: 21179927
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 101, Issue 21; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.212504; (c) 2008 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0031-9007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
BETA DECAY
BETA PARTICLES
DAUGHTER PRODUCTS
GANIL CYCLOTRON
GAS COOLING
HALF-LIFE
HELIUM 6
HELIUM IONS
LITHIUM 6 BEAMS
TRAPPING