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MPINP:
Speichertechnik - Abteilung Blaum
Abstract:
A novel combination of advanced gas-chromatography and detection systems
coupled to a buffer-gas cell was characterized on-line to allow
gas-phase chemical studies of accelerator-produced short-lived
alpha-decaying mercury, francium, and astatine isotopes. These were
produced in Ar-40- and Ca-48-induced nuclear fusion-evaporation
reactions, subsequently isolated in the recoil separators MARS at Texas
A&M University, USA, and TASCA at GSI Darmstadt, Germany, before being
thermalized in a buffer-gas-stopping cell. From the latter, the nuclear
reaction products were extracted into gas-phase chromatographic systems,
suitable for registering alpha-decaying short-lived radionuclides, such
as isotopes of superheavy elements. Efficiencies of 21(3)% for Fr204-209
were reached for the extraction into the optimized miniCOMPACT
gas-chromatography setup, indicating that this technique enables the
identification of isotopes of volatile as well as non-volatile elements.
These studies guide the path towards chemical investigations of
superheavy elements beyond flerovium, which are out of reach with
currently used setups.
