The first on-line laser spectroscopy of cooled fission fragments is reported. The r ions, produced in uranium fission, were extracted and separated using an ion guide isotope separator. The ions were cooled and bunched for collinear laser spectroscopy by a gas-filled linear Paul trap. New results for nuclear mean-square charge radii, dipole, and quadrupole moments are reported across the N=60 shape change. The mean-square charge radii are found to be almost identical to those of the Sr isotones and previously offered modeling of the radial changes is critically reviewed.

Optical isotope shifts of the unstable 44,45Ti isotopes, as well as those of stable 46−50Ti, have been investigated by collinear laser spectroscopy on fast ion beams using an ion guide isotope separator with a cooler-buncher. Changes in mean square charge radii across the neutron 1f7/2 shell are deduced. The evolution of the even-N Ti nuclear radii shows a generally increasing tendency with decreasing neutron number. This behaviour is significantly different to that of the neighbouring Ca isotopes which exhibit a symmetric parabolic behaviour across the shell. The trend of the Ti nuclear radii is consistent with the predictions of the relativistic mean-field theory. The charge radius of 44Ti is also compared to predictions of a 40Ca + α cluster model.

Isotope shifts and hyperfine structures have been measured for radioisotopes of ionic zirconium using on-line laser spectroscopy at the IGISOL facility in Jyväskylä, where the installation of an ion beam cooler/buncher has significantly improved the experimental sensitivity. Measurements have been made on all the neutron-deficient isotopes from 87 Zr to 90 Zr, including the isomers 87m,89m Zr, and the neutron-rich isotopes from 96 Zr to 102 Zr. The change in mean square charge radii between the isotopes and the nuclear moments of the odd isotopes have been extracted. The data show a sudden increase in the mean square charge radius at mass A = 100, consistent with an onset of nuclear deformation which has been observed in the gamma ray spectroscopy of isotope chains in this region of the nuclear chart.

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The first optical measurements of the neutron deficient isotopes, 87–89Zr, and also the two long-lived isomers, 87m,89mZr, have been performed using the new technique of collinear laser spectroscopy of cooled, bunched ion beams. Nuclear mean-square charge radii, spins, magnetic moments and quadrupole moments spanning the N = 50 shell closure are reported. The ‘kink’ in the charge radii trends at the neutron shell closure is the most pronounced observed for any element in the region.