In-gas-jet laser ionization and spectroscopy of 229Th+

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 scheme's subsequent use in resonant ionization spectroscopy of the ground state of 229Th and the search for and characterization of the isotope's lowest energy isomer. The achievement of these goals will be facilitated by the experimental equipment already present at the Institute for Nuclear and Radiation Physics, as well as new hardware, which will be commissioned and characterized as part of this research, such as a new laser system based of high-power high-repetition-rate Nd:YAG lasers pumping dye lasers which will be installed and prepared to operate as part of a high resolution in-gas-jet laser spectroscopy setup. The optimized technique of in-gas laser ionization and spectroscopy will, in this work, also be applied for heavy element research at GSI/FAIR (Germany) and GANIL (France).