ATOMIC BEAM RESEARCH ON RADIOACTIVE ATOMS

Laser Trapping of Radioactive Atoms

Light forces acting on radioactive atoms confine them in very dense and cold samples achieving large phase space density. We describe the processes of radioactive atom production, reduction of their velocity and capture. The trapped atoms form excellent sources for the study of atomic parity non-conservation, β decay asymmetry, other weak force processes, and α decay asymmetry.

Atomic probes of electromagnetic and weak interactions with trapped radioactive atoms

The alkali element francium has a simple electronic structure, and copious amounts of a wide range of isotopes can be produced in present and future rare isotope facilities. The atomic parity violating weak interaction in Fr is 18 times larger than in Cs, which makes it one of the best candidates to search for the effects of the weak interaction and its isotopic dependence. Atomic trapping meth...

Effects of atomic electrons on nuclear stability and radioactive decay

1. The only valid (necessary and sufficient) condition for -stability of a nucleus is the minimum value of the mass of the atom (not of the nucleus) on the isobar line (that is, atomic weight = const). This condition holds true for all known isotopes without exception. 2. The condition of nuclear stability and the decay schemes of unstable nuclei depend on the state of the electron shells. Ato...

Atomic laser-beam finder.

We report on an experimental method to align a laser beam to a cloud of atoms trapped in a magneto-optical trap (MOT). We show how balanced lock-in detection leads to a very sensitive method to align the laser beam to the atoms in the plane perpendicular to the propagation direction. This provides a very reliable and fast way of aligning laser beams to atoms trapped in a MOT.

Atomic beam j