Abstract
We propose a simple approach to measure the energy of the few-eV isomeric state in . To this end, nuclei are doped into VUV-transparent crystals, where they undergo decay into , and, with a probability of 2%, populate the isomeric state. These nuclei may decay into the nuclear ground state under emission of the sought-after VUV ray, whose wavelength can be determined with a spectrometer. Based on measurements of the optical transmission of : crystals in the VUV range, we expect a signal at least two orders of magnitude larger compared to current schemes using surface implantation of recoil nuclei. The signal background is dominated by Cherenkov radiation induced by decays of the thorium decay chain. We estimate that, even if the isomer undergoes radiative de-excitation with a probability of only 0.1%, the VUV ray can be detected within a reasonable measurement time.
- Received 23 November 2015
- Revised 13 April 2016
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.94.014302
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