A Progress Report on Laser Resonance Chromatography

Abstract

Research on superheavy elements enables probing the limits of nuclear existence and provides a fertile ground to advance our understanding of the atom’s structure. However, experimental access to these atomic species is very challenging and often requires the development of new technologies and experimental techniques optimized for the study of a single atomic species. The Laser Resonance Chromatography (LRC) technique was recently conceived to enable atomic structure investigations in the region of the superheavy elements. Here, we give an update on the experimental progress and simulation results.

New Developments in the Production and Research of Actinide Elements

“…The method exploits optical pumping to change the transport properties of an ion as it drifts in helium gas, allowing optical resonances to be identified based on drift times alone, without using resonance ionization or fluorescence detection. A corresponding experimental setup is currently under construction [56]. Closely related to this, and due to the fact that transport properties are sensitive to electronic configurations, efforts are currently being devoted to making ion mobility spectrometry one of the useful tools for isobaric purification in actinide research [57].…”