English

Progress made by the Precision Measurement Institute in Thorium Ion Trapping Research

114
2024-06-21 14:25:12
See translation

Recently, the Cold Molecular Ion Research Group of the Institute of Precision Measurement has made significant progress in the loading, trapping, and recognition of thorium ions. The related research results have been published as cover and selected articles in the international physics journal Journal of Applied Physics, titled "Loading and identifying variable charged thorium ions in a linear ion trap with a time of flight mass spectrometer".

In recent years, the measurement of the first excited state energy of thorium-229 atomic nuclei has become a frontier and hotspot in precision measurement physics research. The energy of the first excited state of thorium-229 atomic nucleus is only about 8.3 eV higher than that of the ground state, and the corresponding radiation transition line width is about 10-4? Hz。 At present, thorium-229 is the only nuclide confirmed to be capable of using laser to regulate nuclear energy levels and achieve nuclear clocks.

The research team successfully trapped and accumulated thorium ions in an ion trap using a dynamic loading combined with buffer gas collision cooling method [2]. Meanwhile, the self-developed ion trap time-of-flight mass spectrometry combined system was used to analyze the quantity, velocity distribution, and trapping lifetime of thorium ions. The relevant achievements have laid the technical foundation for further exciting thorium-229 nuclear transitions through electron bridge processes [3].

PhD students Li Lin and Li Zi from the Institute of Precision Measurement are the co first authors of this article, Associate Researcher Hua Xia is the co author, and Researcher Tong Xin is the corresponding author.

This work has been supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the National Key Research and Development Program.

[1] Zi Li,Lin Li,Xia Hua,and Xin Tong,Loading and identifying various charged thorium ions in a linear ion trap with a time-of-flight mass spectrometer,J. Appl. Phys. 135,144402 (2024).

[2] Lin Li,Zi Li,Xia Hua,and Xin Tong,Dynamic laser ablation loading of a linear Paul trap,arXiv:2402.17981,J. Phys. D accepted (2024).

[3] Lin Li,Zi Li,Chen Wang,Wen-Ting Gan,Xia Hua,and Xin Tong,Scheme for the excitation of thorium-229 nuclei based on electronic bridge excitation,Nucl. Sci. Tech. 34,24 (2023).

Cover and Selected Articles of the International Journal of Applied Physics

Source: Institute of Precision Measurement Science and Technology Innovation, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Related Recommendations
  • Japan and Germany jointly develop ultra high speed laser material deposition technology

    Makino Machine Tool Company, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, and Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology (ILT), headquartered in Aachen, Germany, have collaborated to combine ultra-high speed laser material deposition (EHLA) and near net shape additive manufacturing (EHLA3D) with a five axis CNC platform. The new system developed can efficiently produce, coat, or repair complex geometric shapes o...

    2024-10-25
    See translation
  • The wide application of laser plastic welding technology in the field of automobile manufacturing

    With the rapid development of society, people's demands for energy conservation, emission reduction, and safety in automobiles are increasing. Automobile manufacturers are seeking lightweight manufacturing processes for automobiles, changing traditional component packaging processes, and so on. Laser plastic welding technology has emerged, and below is a brief sharing of the application of plastic...

    2024-09-26
    See translation
  • BluGlass received its first order α GaN DFB laser

    Global semiconductor developer BluGlass Limited has received its first α Purchase order for gallium nitride distributed feedback laser.This client is a pioneer in photon and fiber laser technology and will use BluGlass's blue prototype DFB laser to develop cutting-edge defense, aviation, and scientific applications.Quantum sensing, navigation, and computing applications are driving a huge de...

    2024-01-10
    See translation
  • Swedish KTH develops 3D printed quartz glass micro optical devices on optical fibers

    In what has been described as the "first communication", Swedish researchers conducted 3D printed quartz glass micro optical devices on the tip of optical fibers. They said that this progress could lead to faster Internet and better connectivity, as well as innovations such as smaller sensors and imaging systems.Scientists from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm have stated that co...

    2024-05-23
    See translation
  • Topological high-order harmonic spectroscopy in Communications Physics

    It is reported that researchers from the University of Salamanca in Spain have demonstrated a high-order harmonic spectroscopy scheme generated by the interaction between a structured driving beam and a crystal solid target. This work promotes the topological analysis of high-order harmonic fields as a spectroscopic tool to reveal nonlinearity in the coupling of light and target symmetry. The rele...

    2024-01-15
    See translation