• Accepted Paper

Delivery of refractory radioactive ion beams via in-trap decay at ISOLDE

J. R. Reilly, M. Athanasakis-Kaklamanakis, M. Au, L. Nies, A. Ajayakumar, M. Benhatchi, J. Berbalk, C. Bernerd, K. Chrysalidis, C. M. Fajardo Zambrano, P. F. Giesel, R. Heinke, D. Lange, G. Peng, S. Rothe, A. Schmidt, C. Schweiger, and J. Wessolek

Phys. Rev. C - Accepted 27 August, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/6m5s-pxyz

Abstract

An approach to deliver intense ion beams of refractory radioactive isotopes utilizing in-trap β− decay is demonstrated using the gas-filled ISCOOL ion trap at CERN-ISOLDE. Ion beams of 97,98Rb+ and 98Sr+ were injected into the ion trap, where they underwent β− decay and the daughter ions were successfully confined in the same trap. The produced singly charged ions were subsequently extracted and identified using the ISOLTRAP multi-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer, where the beam composition was analyzed as a function of trapping time. Modeling the observed time-dependent populations of the parent and daughter ions using the Bateman equations reproduces the isotopes’ known half-lives, thereby confirming production via in-trap decay, achieving an overall efficiency for the singly charged daughter beams on the order of {1%} relative to the parent intensity. Using this method, delivery of a singly charged atomic ion beam of {98Y+} is thus reported for the first time at ISOLDE. These results demonstrate a practical and operationally simple method for delivering refractory isotopes at {thick-target isotope-separation-on-line (ISOL)} facilities, opening new opportunities for nuclear-structure studies of chemically challenging isotopes.

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