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Charge-breeding studies for high-precision mass measurements on short-lived nuclides at TITAN and a direct determination of the 51Cr electron-capture Q-value for neutrino physics

University of British Columbia

Penning-trap mass spectrometry (PTMS) is a well-established technique for performing high-precision mass measurements on both stable and short-lived nuclides. Achieving high precisions with radioactive isotopes is technically challenging due to the limited yields and inherent losses from radioactive decay, but it is a worthwhile pursuit as the mass is a fundamental property unique to each nuclide. Accurate and precise knowledge of the mass plays a critical role in the advancement of both theories and applications of nuclear and particle physics. This work provides the result of a Q-value (mass difference) measurement of the ⁵¹Cr(e,𝜈e)⁵¹V reaction. This first direct Q-value measurement confirmed the neutrino energies that were used in calculations for the solar neutrino experiments SAGE and GALLEX and the so-called gallium. Charge breeding to increase the precision of a PTMS measurement on radioactive ions is a technique that is unique to the TITAN (TRIUMF’s Ion Trap for Atomic and Nuclear science) facility; however, this potential increase in precision can be diminished by inefficiencies that are introduced by charge breeding. This thesis describes the simulations and systematic studies that are used to quantify the precision gained in a PTMS measurement made with highly charged, radioactive ions. This novel approach has allowed for the identification of key charge-breeding parameters and the determination of the optimal charge-breeding conditions based solely on the nuclide of interest and its half-life. Furthermore, experimental investigations were performed to determine the compatibility between the simulated findings and experimental observations. These investigations have led to a deeper understanding of the charge-breeding process and apparatus and will improve the predictability and performance of charge breeding at TITAN.

Text

2014-04-11

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/46391

Physics

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ca/