Improvements to TITAN’s mass measurement and decay spectroscopy capabilities
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abstract
The study of nuclei farther from the valley of $\beta$-stability goes
hand-in-hand with shorter-lived nuclei produced in smaller abundances than
their more stable counterparts. The measurement, to high precision, of nuclear
masses therefore requires innovations in technique in order to keep up.
TRIUMF's Ion Trap for Atomic and Nuclear science (TITAN) facility deploys three
ion traps, with a fourth in the commissioning phase, to perform and support
Penning trap mass spectrometry and in-trap decay spectroscopy on some of the
shortest-lived nuclei ever studied. We report on recent advances and updates to
the TITAN facility since the 2012 EMIS Conference.
TITAN's charge breeding capabilities have been improved and in-trap decay
spectroscopy can be performed in TITAN's electron beam ion trap (EBIT). Higher
charge states can improve the precision of mass measurements, reduce the
beam-time requirements for a given measurement, improve beam purity and opens
the door to access, via in-trap decay and recapture, isotopes not available
from the ISOL method. This was recently demonstrated during TITAN's mass
measurement of $^{30}$Al. The EBIT's decay spectroscopy setup was commissioned
with a successful branching ratio and half-life measurement of $^{124}$Cs.
Charge breeding in the EBIT increases the energy spread of the ion bunch sent
to the Penning trap for mass measurement so a new Cooler Penning Trap (CPET),
which aims to cool highly charge ions with an electron plasma, is undergoing
online commissioning. Already, CPET has demonstrated the trapping and
self-cooling of a room-temperature electron plasma which was stored for several
minutes. A new detector has been installed inside the CPET magnetic field which
will allow for in-magnet charged particle detection.
