Precision laser spectroscopy of short-lived fluorine isotopes

Nuclei with a single proton outside a closed proton shell provide unique insight into the strength of this shell closure. Measurements on isotopes with different neutrons allow then to study the evolution of the shell structure as a function of isospin. In this context, fluorine isotopes are of considerable interest, as they feature a single proton outside of the magic Z=8 oxygen core. It is possible to study their structure from the N=Z isotope 18F up to the isotopes at the new neutron shell closures at N=14,16. Since fluorine isotopes contain only few nucleons, these isotopes are also within reach for ab-initio nuclear theory calculations. Laser spectroscopy has so far not yet been successfully applied to radioactive fluorine due to several technical hurdles. During this project, developments to overcome these hurdles will be led with the help of your team members (the production of fluorine at radioactive ion beam facilities and study the sensitivity of different laser ionization spectroscopy schemes to the underlying nuclear observables on stable F will be investigated). This work will form the starting point for the measurements on the short-lived 18F, 23,24,25F, from which the nuclear charge radii and moments will be extracted. The comparison of these results to state-of-the-art nuclear theory will form the final component of this thesis work.