Deformation change in light iridium nuclei from laser spectroscopy

Laser spectroscopy measurements have been performed on neutron-deficient and stable Ir isotopes using the COMPLIS experimental setup installed at ISOLDE-CERN. The radioactive Ir atoms were obtained from successive decays of a mass-separated Hg beam deposited onto a carbon substrate after deceleration to 1kV and subsequently laser desorbed. A three-color, two-step resonant scheme was used to selectively ionize the desorbed Ir atoms. The hyperfine structure (HFS) and isotope shift (IS) of the first transition of the ionization path 5d^{7}6s ^{2}^{4}F_{9/2} \to 5d^{7}6s6p ^{6}F_{11/2} at 351.5nm were measured for $^{182-189}$Ir, $^{186}Ir^{m}$ and the stable $^{191,193}$Ir. The nuclear magnetic moments μI and the spectroscopic quadrupole moments Qs were obtained from the HFS spectra and the change of the mean square charge radii from the IS measurements. The sign of μI was experimentally determined for the first time for the masses 182≤A≤189 and the isomeric state $^{186}Ir^ m$ . The spectroscopic quadrupole moments of $^{182}$Ir and $^{183}$Ir were measured also for the first time. A large mean square charge radius change between $^{187}$Ir and $^{186}Ir^g$ and between $^{186}Ir^m$ and $^{186}Ir ^g$ was observed corresponding to a sudden increase in deformation: from β2 ≃ + 0.16 for the heavier group A = 193, 191, 189, 187 and 186m to β2 ≥ + 0.2 for the lighter group A = 186g, 185, 184, 183 and 182. These results were analyzed in the framework of a microscopic treatment of an axial rotor plus one or two quasiparticle(s). This sudden deformation change is associated with a change in the proton state that describes the odd-nuclei ground state or that participates in the coupling with the neutron in the odd-odd nuclei. This state is identified with the π3/2+[402] orbital for the heavier group and with the π1/2-[541] orbital stemming from the 1h _9/2 spherical subshell for the lighter group. That last state seems to affect strongly the observed values of the nuclear moments

Optical resonance detection by field ionization of Rydberg state in colinear laser spectroscopy

New efficient non-optical detection methods of optical resonances in colinear laser spectroscopy are described. A first method uses the field ionization of a Rydberg state populated by means of two lasers : one is single frequency and interacts colinearly with the fast atomic beam, the other one is multimode and interacts perpendicularly. By detecting, at resonance, the produced ions instead of the fluorescence photons, an overall efficiency of 1.1 x 10 -5 has been obtained, which is comparable to the usual sensitivity limit reached by the laser induced fluorescence method. A second similar experiment uses two single mode dye lasers both interacting colinearly with the fast atomic beam. Compared to the first technique an increase of the sensitivity by two orders of magnitude has been obtained (corresponding to an efficiency of 1.2 x 10- 3). Application to the study of on line produced short-lived isotopes is discussed.Deux nouvelles méthodes efficaces, et non optiques, de détection de résonance optique en spectroscopie colinéaire sont décrites. La première méthode utilise l'ionisation par champ d'un état de Rydberg peuplé à l'aide de deux lasers : le premier est monomode et interagit colinéairement avec le jet d'atomes rapides et le second est multimode et interagit perpendiculairement. En détectant, à la résonance, les ions produits à la place des photons de fluorescence, on obtient une efficacité de 1,1 x 10-5 qui est comparable à la limite de sensibilité habituellement atteinte par la méthode de fluorescence induite par laser. Une deuxième expérience similaire utilise deux lasers à colorant monomodes tous deux interagissant colinéairement avec le faisceau d'atomes rapides. Par comparaison avec la première méthode, on obtient un accroissement de la sensibilité de deux ordres de grandeur (correspondant à une efficacité de 1,2 x 10-3). L'application de ces méthodes à l'étude d'isotopes de courte durée de vie, produits en ligne, est examinée