Diploma, master and bachelor theses

Bachelor or Master Thesis at TRIGA-TRAP at the Research Reactor of University Mainz:

Optimization of a laser ablation ion source at TRIGA-TRAP at the Research Reactor of University Mainz

At the Penning trap mass spectrometer TRIGA-TRAP a laser ablation ion trap for the production of carbon cluster ions resp. ions of several stable ions is in operation. It has already been used for systematic investigations of the experimental setup and first mass measurements in the region of rare earth elements. Stable and efficient ion production is primarily needed for the investigation of heavy elements between uranium and californium. For this purpose, certain parameters like laser intensity and focus diameter have to be controlled.

Tasks of the thesis:

• investigation of the intensity fluctuations of the pulsed Nd:YAG laser
• implementation of a stepper motor unit for the moving of the optical lens for computer-controlled adjustment of the laser focus during an experiment
• investigation of the ion production as a function of laser intensity and focus size by time-of-flight spectra

Basically the following techniques are applied:

• pulsed Nd:YAG laser
• computer-controlled laser intensity measurement
• computer-controlled stepper motor
• recording of time-of-flight spectra

If you are interested please contact Klaus Blaum () or Jens Ketelaer () preferably before June 2010.