Separation of atomic and molecular ions by ion mobility with an RF carpet

Gas-filled stopping cells are used at accelerator laboratories for the thermalization of high-energy radioactive ion beams. Common challenges of many stopping cells are a high molecular background of extracted ions and limitations of extraction efficiency due to space-charge effects. At the FRS Ion Catcher at GSI, a new technique for removal of ionized molecules prior to their extraction out of the stopping cell has been developed. This technique utilizes the RF carpet for the separation of atomic ions from molecular contaminant ions through their difference in ion mobility. Results from the successful implementation and test during an experiment with a 600~MeV/u $^{124}$Xe primary beam are presented. Suppression of molecular contaminants by three orders of magnitude has been demonstrated. Essentially background-free measurement conditions with less than $1~\%$ of background events within a mass-to-charge range of 25 u/e have been achieved. The technique can also be used to reduce the space-charge effects at the extraction nozzle and in the downstream beamline, thus ensuring high efficiency of ion transport and highly-accurate measurements under space-charge-free conditions.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure

Design, construction and cooling system performance of a prototype cryogenic stopping cell for the Super-FRS at FAIR

A cryogenic stopping cell for stopping energetic radioactive ions and extracting them as a low energy beam was developed. This first ever cryogenically operated stopping cell serves as prototype device for the Low-Energy Branch of the Super-FRS at FAIR. The cell has a stopping volume that is 1 m long and 25 cm in diameter. Ions are guided by a DC field along the length of the stopping cell and by a combined RF and DC fields provided by an RE carpet at the exit-hole side. The ultra-high purity of the stopping gas required for optimum ion survival is reached by cryogenic operation. The design considerations and construction of the cryogenic stopping cell, as well as some performance characteristics, are described in detail. Special attention is given to the cryogenic aspects in the design and construction of the stopping cell and the cryocooler-based cooling system. The cooling system allows the operation of the stopping cell at any desired temperature between about 70 K and room temperature. The cooling system performance in realistic on-line conditions at the FRS Ion Catcher Facility at GSI is discussed. A temperature of 110 K at which efficient ion survival was observed is obtained after 10 h of cooling. A minimum temperature of the stopping gas of 72 K was reached. The expertise gained from the design, construction and performance of the prototype cryogenic stopping cell has allowed the development of a Final version for the Low Energy Branch of the Super FRS to proceed. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Determining spontaneous fission properties by direct mass measurements with the FRS Ion Catcher

We present a direct method to measure fission product yield distributions (FPY) and isomeric yield ratios (IYR) for spontaneous fission (SF) fragments. These physical properties are of utmost importance to the understanding of basic nuclear physics, the astrophysical rapid neutron capture process ('r process') of nucle-osynthesis, neutron star composition, and nuclear reactor safety. With this method, fission fragments are produced by spontaneous fission from a source that is mounted in a cryogenic stopping cell (CSC), thermalized and stopped within it, and then extracted and transported to a multiple-reflection time-of-flight mass-spectrometer (MR-TOF-MS). We will implement the method at the FRS Ion Catcher (FRS-IC) at GSI (Germany), whose MR-TOF-MS relative mass accuracy (similar to 10(-7)) and resolving power (similar to 600,000 FWHM) are sufficient to separate all isobars and numerous isomers in the fission fragment realm. The system's essential element independence and its fast simultaneous mass measurement provide a new direct way to measure isotopic FPY distributions, which is complementary to existing methods. It will enable nuclide FPY measurements in the high fission peak, which is hardly accessible by current techniques. The extraction time of the CSC, tens of milliseconds, enables a direct measurement of independent fission yields, and a first study of the temporal dependence of FPY distributions in this duration range. The ability to resolve isomers will further enable direct extraction of numerous IYRs while performing the FPY measurements. The method has been recently demonstrated at the FRS-ICr for SF with a 37 kBq Cf-252 fission source, where about 70 different fission fragments have been identified and counted. In the near future, it will be used for systematic studies of SF with a higher-activity Cf-252 source and a Cm-248 source. The method can be implemented also for neutron induced fission at appropriate facilities

Isomer studies in the vicinity of the doubly-magic nucleus Sn-100: Observation of a new low-lying isomeric state in Ag-97

Long-lived isomeric states in Ag-97 and In101-109 were investigated with the FRS Ion Catcher at GSI. In the isotope Ag-97, a long-lived (1/2(-)) isomeric state was discovered, and its excitation energy was determined to be 618(38) keV. This is simultaneously the first discovery of a nuclear isomeric state by multiple-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The measured excitation energies were compared to large-scale shell-model calculations, which indicated the importance of core excitation around Sn-100. Furthermore, advanced mean-field calculations for the Ag-97 nucleus and relevant neighboring nuclei were performed, which have contributed to a better understanding of the repetitive appearance of certain isomeric structures in neighboring nuclei, and which have supported the discovery of the isomeric state in Ag-97 in a global shell-evolution scheme. (C) 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V

The FRS Ion Catcher - A facility for high-precision experiments with stopped projectile and fission fragments

At the FRS Ion Catcher at GSI, projectile and fission fragments are produced at relativistic energies, separated in-flight, range-focused, slowed down and thermalized in a cryogenic stopping cell. A multiple-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer (MR-TOF-MS) is used to perform direct mass measurements and to provide an isobarically clean beam for further experiments, such as mass-selected decay spectroscopy. A versatile RF quadrupole transport and diagnostics unit guides the ions from the stopping cell to the MR-TOF-MS, provides differential pumping, ion identification and includes reference ion sources. The FRS Ion Catcher serves as a test facility for the Low-Energy Branch of the Super-FRS at the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR), where the cryogenic stopping cell and the MR-TOF-MS will be key devices for the research with stopped projectile and fission fragments that will be performed with the experiments MATS and LaSpec. Off-line tests of the stopping cell yield a combined ion survival and extraction efficiency for Rn-219 ions of about 30% and an extraction time of about 25 ms. The stopping cell and the MR-TOF-MS were commissioned on-line as part of the FRS Ion Catcher. For the first time, a stopping cell for exotic nuclei was operated on-line at cryogenic temperatures. Using a gas density almost two times higher than ever reached before for a stopping cell with RF ion repelling structures, various U-238 projectile fragments were thermalized and extracted with very high efficiency. Direct mass measurements of projectile fragments were performed with the MR-TOF-MS, among them the nuclide Rn-213 with a half-life of 19.5 ms only. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved