New laser polarization line at the ISOLDE facility

Abstract

Following a growing interest in spin-polarized beams of radioactive ions, a new laser spin-polarization setup has been installed at the ISOLDE facility at CERN. The setup is located at the VITO beamline which aims to bring together several experimental techniques using polarized ions allowing for studies in nuclear physics, fundamental interactions, material and life sciences. Intensive design work, which took place in 2016, allowed the installation of the first stage of the polarization line. With this experimental setup, the ion beam can be neutralized, polarized and implanted into a solid sample inside an electromagnet which also hosts β-detectors, where the degree of nuclear spin polarization can be measured. In autumn 2016 the setup was commissioned using short-lived 26Na and 28Na beams which were polarized in the D2 line from their atomic ground state. The previously observed degrees of β asymmetry were reproduced and thus the beamline is now ready for the first physics experiments with spin-polarized radioactive beams.

A new beamline for laser spin-polarization at ISOLDE

“…Results from the commissioning of the new beamline have been reported in Ref. [1]. The present article documents the technical aspects of the beamline.…”

Magnetic moments of short-lived nuclei with part-per-million accuracy: Towards novel applications of $β$-detected NMR in physics, chemistry and biology

“…After fast diffusion out of the heated target, sodium atoms were surface-ionized, accelerated to 50 keV and mass separated using the High Resolution Separator (HRS). The pure isotopic beam of 26 Na, with an intensity of 2−5×10 7 ions/second, was transported to the laser polarization beamline [31,32] shown in Fig. 1.…”

“…Next, it passes through a neutralization cell, where it picks up an electron as it flies through a vapour of stable 23 Na. Over the next 1.5 m the neutral atomic 26 Na beam is polarized via optical pumping in the D2 line at 589 nm [31]. This takes place in a weak guiding magnetic field of 2 mT (applied along the beam path), which defines the quantization axis and prevents the coupling of the electron spins to possible stray fields in the surrounding environment.…”

Direct observation of Mg2+complexes in ionic liquid solutions by31Mg β-NMR spectroscopy

“…Over the last few decades, β-detected nuclear magnetic resonance (β-NMR) has enjoyed use as a technique to study nuclear physics 1,2 and condensed matter, 3,4 the latter mainly focusing on solids, but also with applications to liquids. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11] More recently, several groups have pursued advancing modern incarnations of the technique to study the solution chemistry of β-NMR probes, [12][13][14][15] motivated by its potential to solve chemical and biochemical problems. [16][17][18][19] With the advent of high-intensity radioactive ion beam (RIB) facilities, many new nuclei are available in quantities sufficient for the study of condensed matter.…”

“…Complementary experiments using 1 H-, 13 C-, 15 N-, 25 Mg-, and 35 Cl-NMR spectroscopy, and FTIR spectroscopy, see Fig. S1-S9, and Tables S1-S6, † indicate that the ionic liquid anions (acetate and DCA respectively) coordinate to Mg 2+ in rapid exchange with free anions, that the DCA anions coordinate with the terminal nitrogen, and that trace amounts of impurities such as water in the ionic liquids may give rise to the observed speciation, see Fig.…”