Perspectives of Atomic Physics with Trapped Highly Charged Ions

A special issue of Atoms (ISSN 2218-2004).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2016) | Viewed by 39026

Special Issue Editor

1. Fakultät für Physik und Astronomie, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, 44801 Bochum, Germany
2. Physics Division, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550, USA
Interests: experimental atomic physics; atomic physics with heavy-ion accelerators, storage rings and ion traps; spectroscopy and atomic lifetime measurements;laboratory astrophysics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The spectra of highly charged ions (HCI) have fascinated scientists since Edlén and Tyrén's pioneering work in the 1930s. The recognition in the 1940s that the hitherto mysterious solar coronal lines seen during solar eclipses originated from highly charged ions of Ca and Fe revolutionized the view of the sun and its workings and founded a new understanding of astrophysics. Since the 1950s, fusion plasma experiments reached higher and higher temperatures which were indicated by the production of higher and higher ion charge states. Fast ion beams were excited by being passed through thin foils; since the 1960s this technique enabled the time-resolved observations of beam-foil spectroscopy. Eventually the charge state distributions produced in the ion–foil interaction reached up to a few-electron ions of uranium, facilitating the study the high-field effects of quantum electrodynamics. However, especially at high ion beam velocities, the control of the Doppler effect poses problems to achieving high accuracy. On the other hand, heavy-ion storage rings have since enabled a plethora of very interesting physics experiments. Laser-produced plasmas were added to the spectroscopic toolbox in the 1970s; however, these hot plasmas are of high electron density and thus are more of technological interest than suited for accurate spectroscopy. Ion trapping of low charge state ions began in earnest in the 1950s, but it thrived and included highly charged ions only when vacuum technology progressed sufficiently, and when superconducting magnets supported Penning traps, and eventually the electron beam ion trap. Since the 1980s, all charge states of all elements have become available in such traps, with negligible Doppler shifts and little Doppler broadening in the spectroscopic observation. The low particle density in electron beam ion traps furthermore mimics the conditions in various astrophysical plasmas, and this wide field on its own should be extremely fruitful. Consequently, the electron beam ion trap concept and development which began at Livermore (CA, USA) by now, with ion traps of all sizes, has spread to quite a number of countries on (so far) four continents. Yet another tool has been provided by the recent combination of X-ray lasers and ion traps. Nuclear physics employs charge breeding in electron beam ion traps; extremely accurate mass measurements have been performed on trapped HCI, and fascinating processes observed on single ions in heavy-ion storage rings. There is a lot of physics to be explored! 

It should be useful and advantageous for the community to have a concentrated depository that reflects the width and variety of research in the subfield of Atomic Physics with Trapped Highly Charged Ions. For this purpose, the call for contributions to a Special Issue is renewed. Of course, "Atoms" welcomes submissions on all aspects of atomic physics, which usually report on past achievements. For this Special Issue of Atoms, I would like to particularly encourage and invite manuscripts that serve a different purpose in the community by looking ahead. I would like to see an emphasis on the assessment of a field (with suitable examples from your own work), combined with ideas of how work in the field might or should move forward. "Where are we, where do we want to go, using or developing which tools?" In any case, each paper needs original and noteworthy content.


Prof. Dr. Elmar Träbert
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Editorial

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242 KiB  
Editorial
Guest Editor’s Notes on the “Atoms” Special Issue on “Perspectives of Atomic Physics with Trapped Highly Charged Ions”
by Elmar Träbert
Atoms 2016, 4(1), 7; https://doi.org/10.3390/atoms4010007 - 24 Feb 2016
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 3808
Abstract
The study of highly charged ions (HCI) was pursued first at Uppsala (Sweden), by Edlén and Tyrén in the 1930s. Their work led to the recognition that the solar corona is populated by such ions, an insight which forced massive paradigm changes in [...] Read more.
The study of highly charged ions (HCI) was pursued first at Uppsala (Sweden), by Edlén and Tyrén in the 1930s. Their work led to the recognition that the solar corona is populated by such ions, an insight which forced massive paradigm changes in solar physics. Plasmas aiming at controlled fusion in the laboratory, laser-produced plasmas, foil-excited swift ion beams, and electron beam ion traps have all pushed the envelope in the production of HCI. However, while there are competitive aspects in the race for higher ion charge states, the real interest lies in the very many physics topics that can be studied in these ions. Out of this rich field, the Special Issue concentrates on atomic physics studies that investigate highly charged ions produced, maintained, and/or manipulated in ion traps. There have been excellent achievements in the field in the past, and including fairly recent work, they have been described by their authors at conferences and in the appropriate journals. The present article attempts an overview over current lines of development, some of which are expanded upon in this Special Issue. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Perspectives of Atomic Physics with Trapped Highly Charged Ions)

Research

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8895 KiB  
Article
Electroweak Decay Studies of Highly Charged Radioactive Ions with TITAN at TRIUMF
by Kyle G. Leach, Iris Dillmann, Renee Klawitter, Erich Leistenschneider, Annika Lennarz, Thomas Brunner, Dieter Frekers, Corina Andreoiu, Anna A. Kwiatkowski and Jens Dilling
Atoms 2017, 5(1), 14; https://doi.org/10.3390/atoms5010014 - 21 Mar 2017
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 4347
Abstract
Several modes of electroweak radioactive decay require an interaction between the nucleus and bound electrons within the constituent atom. Thus, the probabilities of the respective decays are not only influenced by the structure of the initial and final states in the nucleus, but [...] Read more.
Several modes of electroweak radioactive decay require an interaction between the nucleus and bound electrons within the constituent atom. Thus, the probabilities of the respective decays are not only influenced by the structure of the initial and final states in the nucleus, but can also depend strongly on the atomic charge. Conditions suitable for the partial or complete ionization of these rare isotopes occur naturally in hot, dense astrophysical environments, but can also be artificially generated in the laboratory to selectively block certain radioactive decay modes. Direct experimental studies on such scenarios are extremely difficult due to the laboratory conditions required to generate and store radioactive ions at high charge states. A new electron-beam ion trap (EBIT) decay setup with the TITAN experiment at TRIUMF has successfully demonstrated such techniques for performing spectroscopy on the radioactive decay of highly charged ions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Perspectives of Atomic Physics with Trapped Highly Charged Ions)
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235 KiB  
Article
Direct Observation of the M1 Transition between the Ground Term Fine Structure Levels of W VIII
by Momoe Mita, Hiroyuki A. Sakaue, Daiji Kato, Izumi Murakami and Nobuyuki Nakamura
Atoms 2017, 5(1), 13; https://doi.org/10.3390/atoms5010013 - 08 Mar 2017
Cited by 24 | Viewed by 4744
Abstract
We present a direct observation of the M1 transition between the fine structure splitting in the 4 f 13 5 s 2 5 p 6 2 F ground term of W VIII. The spectroscopic data of few-times ionized tungsten ions are important for [...] Read more.
We present a direct observation of the M1 transition between the fine structure splitting in the 4 f 13 5 s 2 5 p 6 2 F ground term of W VIII. The spectroscopic data of few-times ionized tungsten ions are important for the future ITER diagnostics, but there is a serious lack of data. The present study is part of an ongoing effort to solve this problem. Emission from the tungsten ions produced and trapped in a compact electron beam ion trap is observed with a Czerny–Turner visible spectrometer. Spectra in the EUV range are also observed at the same time to help identify the previously-unreported visible lines. The observed wavelength 574.47 ± 0.03 nm (air), which corresponds to the fine structure splitting of 17,402.5 ± 0.9 cm 1 , shows reasonable agreement with the previously reported value 17,410 ± 5 cm 1 obtained indirectly through the analysis of EUV spectra [Ryabtsev et al., Atoms 3 (2015) 273]. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Perspectives of Atomic Physics with Trapped Highly Charged Ions)
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939 KiB  
Article
Extreme Ultraviolet Spectra of Few-Times Ionized Tungsten for Divertor Plasma Diagnostics
by Joel Clementson, Thomas Lennartsson and Peter Beiersdorfer
Atoms 2015, 3(3), 407-421; https://doi.org/10.3390/atoms3030407 - 09 Sep 2015
Cited by 28 | Viewed by 4923
Abstract
The extreme ultraviolet (EUV) emission from few-times ionized tungsten atoms has been experimentally studied at the Livermore electron beam ion trap facility. The ions were produced and confined during low-energy operations of the EBIT-I electron beam ion trap. By varying the electron-beam energy [...] Read more.
The extreme ultraviolet (EUV) emission from few-times ionized tungsten atoms has been experimentally studied at the Livermore electron beam ion trap facility. The ions were produced and confined during low-energy operations of the EBIT-I electron beam ion trap. By varying the electron-beam energy from around 30–300 eV, tungsten ions in charge states expected to be abundant in tokamak divertor plasmas were excited, and the resulting EUV emission was studied using a survey spectrometer covering 120–320 Å. It is found that the emission strongly depends on the excitation energy; below 150 eV, it is relatively simple, consisting of strong isolated lines from a few charge states, whereas at higher energies, it becomes very complex. For divertor plasmas with tungsten impurity ions, this emission should prove useful for diagnostics of tungsten flux rates and charge balance, as well as for radiative cooling of the divertor volume. Several lines in the 194–223 Å interval belonging to the spectra of five- and seven-times ionized tungsten (Tm-like W VI and Ho-like W VIII) were also measured using a high-resolution spectrometer. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Perspectives of Atomic Physics with Trapped Highly Charged Ions)
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1721 KiB  
Article
Experiments with Highly-Ionized Atoms in Unitary Penning Traps
by Shannon Fogwell Hoogerheide, Aung S. Naing, Joan M. Dreiling, Samuel M. Brewer, Nicholas D. Guise and Joseph N. Tan
Atoms 2015, 3(3), 367-391; https://doi.org/10.3390/atoms3030367 - 14 Aug 2015
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 9184
Abstract
Highly-ionized atoms with special properties have been proposed for interesting applications, including potential candidates for a new generation of optical atomic clocks at the one part in 1019 level of precision, quantum information processing and tests of fundamental theory. The proposed atomic [...] Read more.
Highly-ionized atoms with special properties have been proposed for interesting applications, including potential candidates for a new generation of optical atomic clocks at the one part in 1019 level of precision, quantum information processing and tests of fundamental theory. The proposed atomic systems are largely unexplored. Recent developments at NIST are described, including the isolation of highly-ionized atoms at low energy in unitary Penning traps and the use of these traps for the precise measurement of radiative decay lifetimes (demonstrated with a forbidden transition in Kr17+), as well as for studying electron capture processes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Perspectives of Atomic Physics with Trapped Highly Charged Ions)
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Review

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23 pages, 7545 KiB  
Review
Microcalorimeters for X-Ray Spectroscopy of Highly Charged Ions at Storage Rings
by Saskia Kraft-Bermuth, Daniel Hengstler, Peter Egelhof, Christian Enss, Andreas Fleischmann, Michael Keller and Thomas Stöhlker
Atoms 2018, 6(4), 59; https://doi.org/10.3390/atoms6040059 - 02 Nov 2018
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3665
Abstract
X-ray spectroscopy of highly charged heavy ions is an important tool for the investigation of many topics in atomic physics. Such highly charged ions, in particular hydrogen-like uranium, are investigated at heavy ion storage rings, where high charge states can be produced in [...] Read more.
X-ray spectroscopy of highly charged heavy ions is an important tool for the investigation of many topics in atomic physics. Such highly charged ions, in particular hydrogen-like uranium, are investigated at heavy ion storage rings, where high charge states can be produced in large quantities, stored for long times and cooled to low momentum spread of the ion beam. One prominent example is the determination of the 1s Lamb Shift in hydrogen-like heavy ions, which has been investigated at the Experimental Storage Ring (ESR) at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research. Due to the large electron binding energies, the energies of the corresponding photon transitions are located in the X-ray regime. To determine the transition energies with high accuracy, highly resolving X-ray spectrometers are needed. One concept of such spectrometers is the concept of microcalorimeters, which, in contrast to semiconductor detectors, uses the detection of heat rather than charge to detect energy. Such detectors have been developed and successfully applied in experiments at the ESR. For experiments at the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR), the Stored Particles and Atoms Collaboration (SPARC) pursues the development of new microcalorimeter concepts and larger detector arrays. Next to fundamental investigations on quantum electrodynamics such as the 1s Lamb Shift or electron–electron interactions in two- and three-electron systems, X-ray spectroscopy may be extended towards nuclear physics investigations like the determination of nuclear charge radii. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Perspectives of Atomic Physics with Trapped Highly Charged Ions)
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5238 KiB  
Review
High-Precision Measurements of the Bound Electron’s Magnetic Moment
by Sven Sturm, Manuel Vogel, Florian Köhler-Langes, Wolfgang Quint, Klaus Blaum and Günter Werth
Atoms 2017, 5(1), 4; https://doi.org/10.3390/atoms5010004 - 21 Jan 2017
Cited by 35 | Viewed by 7048
Abstract
Highly charged ions represent environments that allow to study precisely one or more bound electrons subjected to unsurpassed electromagnetic fields. Under such conditions, the magnetic moment (g-factor) of a bound electron changes significantly, to a large extent due to contributions from [...] Read more.
Highly charged ions represent environments that allow to study precisely one or more bound electrons subjected to unsurpassed electromagnetic fields. Under such conditions, the magnetic moment (g-factor) of a bound electron changes significantly, to a large extent due to contributions from quantum electrodynamics. We present three Penning-trap experiments, which allow to measure magnetic moments with ppb precision and better, serving as stringent tests of corresponding calculations, and also yielding access to fundamental quantities like the fine structure constant α and the atomic mass of the electron. Additionally, the bound electrons can be used as sensitive probes for properties of the ionic nuclei. We summarize the measurements performed so far, discuss their significance, and give a detailed account of the experimental setups, procedures and the foreseen measurements. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Perspectives of Atomic Physics with Trapped Highly Charged Ions)
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