Extending Our Knowledge about the Th-229 Nuclear Isomer

Seiferle, Benedict; Moritz, Daniel; Scharl, Kevin; Ding, Shiqian; Zacherl, Florian; Löbell, Lilli und Thirolf, Peter G. (2022): Extending Our Knowledge about the Th-229 Nuclear Isomer. In: Atoms, Bd. 10, Nr. 1

Abstract

The first nuclear excited state in Th-229 possesses the lowest excitation energy of all currently known nuclear levels. The energy difference between the ground- and first-excited (isomeric) state (denoted with Th-229m) amounts only to approximate to 8.2 eV (approximate to 151.2 nm), which results in several interesting consequences: Since the excitation energy is in the same energy range as the binding energy of valence electrons, the lifetime of Th-229m is strongly influenced by the electronic structure of the Th atom or ion. Furthermore, it is possible to potentially excite the isomeric state in Th-229 with laser radiation, which led to the proposal of a nuclear clock that could be used to search for new physics beyond the standard model. In this article, we will focus on recent technical developments in our group that will help to better understand the decay mechanisms of Th-229m, focusing primarily on measuring the radiative lifetime of the isomeric state.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Fakultät: Physik
• Themengebiete: 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik > 530 Physik
• Sprache: Englisch
• DFG: Gefördert durch die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - 491502892