Nuclear Charge Radius of {sup 8}He

Journal Article · Fri Dec 21 00:00:00 EST 2007 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVLETT.99.252501· OSTI ID:21024613

Mueller, P; Bailey, K; Holt, R J; Janssens, R V. F.; O'Connor, T P ^[1]; Sulai, I A; Lu, Z -T ^[1]; Villari, A C. C.; Alcantara-Nunez, J A; Alves-Conde, R; Dubois, M; Eleon, C; Gaubert, G; Lecesne, N; Saint-Laurent, M -G; Thomas, J -C ^[2]; Drake, G W. F. ^[3]; Wang, L -B ^[4]

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1. Physics Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439 (United States)
2. GANIL (IN2P3/CNRS-DSM/CEA), B.P. 55027 F-14076 Caen Cedex 5 (France)
3. Physics Department, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, N9B 3P4 (Canada)
4. Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 (United States)

The root-mean-square (rms) nuclear charge radius of {sup 8}He, the most neutron-rich of all particle-stable nuclei, has been determined for the first time to be 1.93(3) fm. In addition, the rms charge radius of {sup 6}He was measured to be 2.068(11) fm, in excellent agreement with a previous result. The significant reduction in charge radius from {sup 6}He to {sup 8}He is an indication of the change in the correlations of the excess neutrons and is consistent with the {sup 8}He neutron halo structure. The experiment was based on laser spectroscopy of individual helium atoms cooled and confined in a magneto-optical trap. Charge radii were extracted from the measured isotope shifts with the help of precision atomic theory calculations.

• OSTI ID: 21024613
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 99, Issue 25; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.252501; (c) 2007 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
ATOMIC NUMBER
HELIUM 6
HELIUM 8
LASER SPECTROSCOPY
NEUTRON-RICH ISOTOPES
NEUTRONS
NUCLEAR HALOS
NUCLEAR RADII
SPECTRAL SHIFT