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Collinear laser spectroscopy was performed on Ga (Z ¼ 31) isotopes at ISOLDE, CERN. A gas-filled linear Paul trap (ISCOOL) was used to extend measurements towards very neutron-rich isotopes (N ¼ 36-50 Nuclear structure has for some time been described by the single-particle (SP) states of nucleons in the shell model. The evolution and reordering of these levels along isotopic chains is explored at radioactive ion beam facilities to provide information on the nature of the nucleonnucleon interaction. Key to these studies is the determination of the value of the nuclear spin of each state, which provides a means of level identification. Whereas the spin may sometimes be inferred from nuclear decay and -spectroscopy data, laser spectroscopy [1,2] permits a measurement of the nuclear spin, in addition to the state's magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole moments. The latter two observables are very sensitive to the wave function and thus to the SP shell evolution. The sensitivity of the laser technique has been critically enhanced using bunched beams from a gas-filled linear rf quadrupole known as an ion beam cooler [3]. In this Letter we report the application of ISCOOL [4]-an ion beam cooler recently installed at ISOLDE-for collinear laser spectroscopy on Ga isotopes from stable to the magic N ¼ 50 shell gap, located 15 isotopes away from stability. For the first time g.s. spins have been measured, revealing sudden changes not observed in earlier experiments.The Ga isotopes have three protons outside the Z ¼ 28 shell gap. In a normal shell-model ordering, the three protons would occupy the p 3=2 level, leading to a g.s. spin I ¼ 3=2 for all odd-A Ga isotopes. However, in the Cu isotones with two protons fewer, it has been demonstrated that the proton SP ordering changes when neutrons start occupying the g 9=2 orbital around N ¼ 40 [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. An inversion of the p 3=2 and f 5=2 SP levels was established recently in 75 Cu at N ¼ 46 [11], where the 5=2 À g.s. is near degenerate with a 3=2 À and 1=2 À state [11]. In this Letter we establish the g.s. spins and structure of the odd-A Ga isotopes from N ¼ 36 up to the N ¼ 50 shell closure, and we investigate the systematics of the 1=2 À , 3=2 À and 5=2 À levels.Fission fragments were produced in a thick UC x target (45 g=cm 2 ) using 1.4 GeV protons at an average current of $2 A. A proton-neutron converter [16] was used to suppress the Rb production. The Ga yield was selectively enhanced by a factor of 100 using the Resonant Ionization Laser-Ion Source [17], extracted and accelerated to 30 keV and mass selected. The ions were cooled and bunched by the newly-installed ISCOOL [4] and delivered to the collinear laser spectroscopy setup [18]. The ion beam was

The nuclear charge radius of (12)Be was precisely determined using the technique of collinear laser spectroscopy on the 2s(1/2)→2p(1/2,3/2) transition in the Be(+) ion. The mean square charge radius increases from (10)Be to (12)Be by δ(10,12)=0.69(5) fm(2) compared to δ(10,11)=0.49(5) fm(2) for the one-neutron halo isotope ^{11}Be. Calculations in the fermionic molecular dynamics approach show a strong sensitivity of the charge radius to the structure of ^{12}Be. The experimental charge radius is consistent with a breakdown of the N=8 shell closure.

Charge radii of all magnesium isotopes in the sd shell have been measured, revealing evolution of the nuclear shape throughout two prominent regions of assumed deformation centered on (24)Mg and (32)Mg. A striking correspondence is found between the nuclear charge radius and the neutron shell structure. The importance of cluster configurations towards N=8 and collectivity near N=20 is discussed in the framework of the fermionic molecular dynamics model. These essential results have been made possible by the first application of laser-induced nuclear orientation for isotope shift measurements.

The research reactor TRIGA Mainz is an ideal facility to provide neutron-rich nuclides with production rates sufficiently large for mass spectrometric and laser spectroscopic studies. Within the TRIGA-SPEC project, a Penning trap as well as a beamline for collinear laser spectroscopy are being installed. Several new developments will ensure high sensitivity of the trap setup enabling mass measurements even on a single ion. Besides neutron-rich fission products produced in the reactor, also heavy nuclides such as 235U or 252Cf can be investigated for the first time with an off-line ion source. The data provided by the mass measurements will be of interest for astrophysical calculations on the rapid neutron-capture process as well as for tests of mass models in the heavy-mass region. The laser spectroscopic measurements will yield model-independent information on nuclear ground-state properties such as nuclear moments and charge radii of neutron-rich nuclei of refractory elements far from stability. TRIGA-SPEC also serves as a test facility for mass and laser spectroscopic experiments at SHIPTRAP and the low-energy branch of the future GSI facility FAIR. This publication describes the experimental setup as well as its present status