Synthesis of cold and trappable fully stripped HCI's via antiproton-induced nuclear fragmentation in traps

Abstract

The study of radioisotopes as well as of highly charged ions is a very active and dynamic field. In both cases, the most sensitive probes involve species trapped in Penning or Paul traps after a lengthy series of production and separation steps that limit the types and lifetimes of species that can be investigated. We propose a novel production scheme that forms fully (or almost fully) stripped radionuclei in form of highly charged ions (HCI's) directly in the trapping environment. The method extends the range of species, among them radioisotopes such as $^{21}$F, $^{100}$Sn or $^{229}$Th, that can be readily produced and investigated and is complementary to existing techniques.