Ion beam preparation of 7Li+ for precision experiments at heavy ion storage rings

Abstract Heavy ion storage rings allow for tests of the structure of local space time via the Doppler effect. At the TSR/Heidelberg an experiment with high resolution laser spectroscopy at 7 Li + is performed. To gain the maximum resolution for saturation spectroscopy new methods of relativistic ion beam preparation and diagnostics have been developed. The laser cooling of the beam allows for precision determination of the mean velocity of the ions. A novel phase synchronous detection scheme, ultimately sensitive to single ions, gives insights into the cooling mechanism and dynamics. With an additional synchronous excitation scheme systematic uncertainties of the test experiment can be drastically reduced. After separation of the ground state ions from the triplet states of 7 Li + by the combination of laser and electron cooling, a bunched and cooled ensemble of fast moving high precision clocks with minimized perturbations by space charge effects and intra beam scattering is available.