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Updated: Jun 21, 2026

10:42
Preparing an Isotopically Pure 229Th Ion Beam for Studies of 229mTh
Published on: May 3, 2019
Multiply charged thorium crystals for nuclear laser spectroscopy
C J Campbell1, A V Steele, L R Churchill
1School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0430, USA.
Physical Review Letters
|August 8, 2009
Abstract:
We have produced laser-cooled crystals of 232Th3+ in a linear rf Paul trap. This is the first time that a multiply charged ion has been laser cooled. Our work opens an avenue for excitation of the nuclear transition in a trapped, cold 229Th3+ ion. Laser excitation of nuclear states would establish a new bridge between atomic and nuclear physics, with the promise of new levels of metrological precision.
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