Development of an “α-TOF” detector for correlated measurement of atomic masses and decay properties

Abstract We have developed a novel detector, referred to as an “ α -TOF detector”, for correlated measurements of atomic masses and decay properties of low-yield, short-lived radioactive isotopes using a multi-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrograph. By correlating measured time-of-flight signals with decay events, it will be possible to suppress background events and obtain accurate, high-precision mass and half-life values even in cases of very low event rates. An offline test of the α -TOF detector has shown that the time-of-flight detection efficiency for 5.48 MeV α -rays is more than 90% and yields a time resolution of 250.6(68) ps and an alpha-energy resolution of 141.1(9) keV. Using a two-dimensional spectrum of the correlated α -ray energy and time-of-flight, the α -rays from mixed α sources could be resolved. Subsequent testing using α -emitting nuclei extracted offline from a gas cell provide verification of the α -ray based characterization.