Darmstadt 2016 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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HK: Fachverband Physik der Hadronen und Kerne

HK 6: Structure and Dynamics of Nuclei II

HK 6.6: Vortrag

Montag, 14. März 2016, 15:45–16:00, S1/01 A04

Using ²³³U-doped crystals to access the few-eV isomeric transition in ²²⁹Th — •Simon Stellmer, Matthias Schreitl, Georgy A. Kazakov, Johannes H. Sterba, and Thorsten Schumm — Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology (VCQ) and Atominstitut, TU Wien, Vienna, Austria

The isotope ²²⁹Th possesses an exceptionally low-lying isomeric state at an energy of only a few eV. While direct laser excitation of the isomer is a tantalizing future prospect, the stage is not yet set for nuclear laser spectroscopy: too little is known about the energy, lifetime, and internal conversion pathways of the isomer. Alternative routes to populate the isomer are needed for further investigations.

We use the alpha decay ²³³U → ^229g,mTh to populate the isomer with a probability of 2%. The ²³³U is embedded into VUV-transparent crystals, as the isomer transition is expected around 160 nm. The wavelength of the gamma ray, emitted upon de-excitation of the isomer into the ground state, is measured with a spectrometer. Calculations show that the isomer emission will not be obscured by radioluminescence of the crystal.

We will report on the current status of the experiment.