Laser spectroscopy of nuclear reaction products: recent results and future prospects

Abstract

Laser spectroscopic observations of nuclear reaction products produced with intensities of less than 10⁴ atoms/second are now possible with several different methods. We describe the recoil into gas method which has recently been successful. This method is not Dopplerfree, but can give reasonable spectra if the resolution requirements of the spectra are not too high. It has the great advantage that it very efficiently uses the atoms, and spectra have been observed with primary production rates of less than 10³ atoms/sec. Our recent work has concentrated on developing the recoil into gas method for the refractory element Hf. In order that the atoms could be cycled to produce many fluorescence photons, nitrogen and hydrogen impurity gases were added to the argon buffer gas to quench metastable levels to the ground state. In this way spectra could be obtained with fluxes of 10⁴ atoms/second. Future prospects for trapping radioactive atoms in a magneto-optic trap will be discussed.