title: First results on Ge resonant laser photoionization in hollow cathode lamp.
abstract: In the framework of the research and development activities of the SPES project regarding the optimization of the radioactive beam production, a dedicated experimental study has been recently started in order to investigate the possibility of in-source ionization of germanium using a set of tunable dye lasers. Germanium is one of the beams to be accelerated by the SPES ISOL facility, which is under construction at Legnaro INFN Laboratories. The three-step, two color ionization schemes have been tested using a Ge hollow cathode lamp. The slow and the fast optogalvanic signals were detected and averaged by an oscilloscope as a proof of the laser ionization inside the lamp. As a result, several wavelength scans across the resonances of ionization schemes were collected with the fast optogalvanic signal. Some comparisons of ionization efficiency for different ionization schemes were made. Furthermore, saturation curves of the first excitation transitions have been obtained. This investigation method and the setup built in the laser laboratory of the SPES project can be applied for the photo-ionization scheme studies also for the other possible radioactive elements.
authors.affiliation: INFN-LNL, Viale Universita' 2, Legnaro, 35020 Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Scarpa
authors.affiliation: Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute (PNPI), NRC Kurchatov Institute, Gatchina 188300, Russia.
authors.forename: Anatoly
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barzakh
authors.affiliation: Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute (PNPI), NRC Kurchatov Institute, Gatchina 188300, Russia.
authors.forename: Dmitry
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fedorov
authors.affiliation: INFN-LNL, Viale Universita' 2, Legnaro, 35020 Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Andrighetto
authors.affiliation: CNISM, University of Siena DSFTA, 53100 Siena, Italy.
authors.forename: Emilio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mariotti
authors.affiliation: Department Information Engineering, University of Padova, IFN-CNR UOF Padova, 35122 Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Piergiorgio
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nicolosi
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tomaselli