Growth and characterization of thorium-doped calcium fluoride single crystals.

Autor: Beeks K; Laboratory for Ultrafast Microscopy and Electron Scattering (LUMES), Institute of Physics, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Station 6, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland. kjeld.beeks@epfl.ch., Sikorsky T; Institute for Atomic and Subatomic Physics, TU Wien, Stadionallee 2, 1020, Vienna, Austria., Rosecker V; Institute for Atomic and Subatomic Physics, TU Wien, Stadionallee 2, 1020, Vienna, Austria., Pressler M; Institute for Atomic and Subatomic Physics, TU Wien, Stadionallee 2, 1020, Vienna, Austria., Schaden F; Institute for Atomic and Subatomic Physics, TU Wien, Stadionallee 2, 1020, Vienna, Austria., Werban D; Institute for Atomic and Subatomic Physics, TU Wien, Stadionallee 2, 1020, Vienna, Austria., Hosseini N; Institute for Atomic and Subatomic Physics, TU Wien, Stadionallee 2, 1020, Vienna, Austria., Rudischer L; Institute for Atomic and Subatomic Physics, TU Wien, Stadionallee 2, 1020, Vienna, Austria., Schneider F; Institute for Atomic and Subatomic Physics, TU Wien, Stadionallee 2, 1020, Vienna, Austria., Berwian P; Fraunhofer-Institut für Integrierte Systeme und Bauelementetechnologie IISB, Schottkystraße 10, 91058, Erlangen, Germany., Friedrich J; Fraunhofer-Institut für Integrierte Systeme und Bauelementetechnologie IISB, Schottkystraße 10, 91058, Erlangen, Germany., Hainz D; TRIGA Center Atominstitut, TU Wien, Stadionallee 2, 1020, Vienna, Austria., Welch J; CLIP, TRIGA Center Atominstitut TU Wien, Stadionallee 2, 1020, Vienna, Austria., Sterba JH; CLIP, TRIGA Center Atominstitut TU Wien, Stadionallee 2, 1020, Vienna, Austria., Kazakov G; Institute for Atomic and Subatomic Physics, TU Wien, Stadionallee 2, 1020, Vienna, Austria., Schumm T; Institute for Atomic and Subatomic Physics, TU Wien, Stadionallee 2, 1020, Vienna, Austria.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Scientific reports [Sci Rep] 2023 Mar 08; Vol. 13 (1), pp. 3897. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Mar 08.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-31045-5
Abstrakt: We have grown [Formula: see text]Th:CaF[Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]Th:CaF[Formula: see text] single crystals for investigations on the VUV laser-accessible first nuclear excited state of [Formula: see text]Th, with the aim of building a solid-state nuclear clock. To reach high doping concentrations despite the extreme scarcity (and radioactivity) of [Formula: see text]Th, we have scaled down the crystal volume by a factor 100 compared to established commercial or scientific growth processes. We use the vertical gradient freeze method on 3.2 mm diameter seed single crystals with a 2 mm drilled pocket, filled with a co-precipitated CaF[Formula: see text]:ThF[Formula: see text]:PbF[Formula: see text] powder in order to grow single crystals. Concentrations of [Formula: see text] cm[Formula: see text] have been realized with [Formula: see text]Th with good (> 10%) VUV transmission. However, the intrinsic radioactivity of [Formula: see text]Th drives radio-induced dissociation during growth and radiation damage after solidification. Both lead to a degradation of VUV transmission, currently limiting the [Formula: see text]Th concentration to [Formula: see text] cm[Formula: see text].
(© 2023. The Author(s).)
Databáze: MEDLINE
Externí odkaz:
Nepřihlášeným uživatelům se plný text nezobrazuje