Projects

This research will play an important role in the investigation of fundamental physical aspects of the universe, such as the time variance of fundamental physical constants, and serve as the foundation for the ongoing development of a new generation of optical clocks, which will for the first time utilize a transition in the nucleus. The work will consist of three main steps: the development of an efficient ionization scheme for Th+, the ...

This PhD project focusses on decay spectroscopy studies of extremely pure samples of radioactive isotopes produced using laser ionization with the aim to test and improve nuclear models or to observe for the first time the radiative decay of an extremely low-lying nuclear isomer in Th-229. The experimental campaigns will take place at ISOLDE – CERN using, depending of the physics case, the ISOLDE Decay Station detector system or a tailored ...

LISA aims to train the next generation of atomic, nuclear and laser scientists by conducting research to increase our understanding of the atomic and nuclear properties of the chemical elements known as the actinides. Of long-standing interest to the fields of fundamental atomic and nuclear physics, this effort is an essential prerequisite for unravelling the structure of the superheavy elements at the end of Mendeleev’s table. This knowledge ...

Laser spectroscopy studies, which are complementary to nuclear spectroscopy in the actinides and superheavy elements (SHE) region, give access to nuclear ground- and isomeric-state properties, such as mean-square charge radii, magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole moments and spins. The information on these observables is essential to validate nuclear models and to increase their predictive power. However, the efficient separation and study ...

The thesis project deals with the study and characterization of the gas jet formation, the optimization of the interaction of the gas jet withthe ionizing lasers, the capture of the photo ions in the RF structure and the detection system. For this PhD project, I will also help in off-and on line tests of the new set-up, in the new laser laboratory at KU Leuven, at LISOL in Louvain La Neuve and at SPIRAL in Caen, France. A pre-study on Ac at ...

The aim of this proposal is to develop a novel laser-spectroscopy method and to study nuclear and atomic properties of heaviests elements in order to address the following key questions:
- Is the existence of the heaviest isotopes determined by the interplay between single-particle and collective nucleon degrees of freedom in the atomic nucleus?
- How do relativistic effects and isotopic composition influence the valence atomic ...

In this thesis work the development and characterisation of the Super Separator Spectrometer (S³) Low Energy Branch (S³-LEB) is discussed. This new installation will allow the study of neutron-deficient medium-heavy and heavy isotopes using laser, mass and decay spectroscopy techniques. Such studies will be possible thanks to the high energy and intensity heavy-ion primary beam from the GANIL-SPIRAL2 facility. In this work the full S³-LEB ...

Resonance laser ionization does not only yield high efficiencies but also allows selective ionization of a specific element or isotope of interest. Currently, laser ionization is most commonly used in conjunction with a so-called hot cavity: a metal tube which is heated to temperatures of up to 2200 degrees Celsius. A drawback of this method is the efficiency of the cavity as a surface ion source. In some cases, when a sufficiently dense ...