Filament studies for laser spectroscopy on lawrencium

Abstract

The sensitive RAdiation Detected Resonance Ionization Spectroscopy (RADRIS) technique enabled the study of the atomic structure of the element nobelium (No, Z = 102) for the first time. The prospect of accessing the next element, lawrencium (Lr, Z = 103), depends on the efficiency and speed of evaporation of sample atoms from a filament catcher. To determine the desorption properties with respect to the requirements for the RADRIS technique, an off-line set-up to characterize filament catchers was developed. Using the iso-electronic homologue lutetium (Lu, Z= 71) different filament materials were studied with respect to the required desorption temperatures and the background from surface ionization.