Laser Ion Source Developments for Radioactive Ion Beams.

The Resonant Ionization Laser Ion Source is a versatile and efficient tool to generate radioactive ion beams at on-line mass separator facilities. Due to its high ionization efficiency and elemental selectivity it allows to delivery, in principle, isobar free, clean radioactive ion beams (RIB). Parallel to the on-line laser ion source at TRIUMF's Isotope Separator and Accelerator facility, an off-line laser ion source test stand has been built for systematic laser resonance ionization spectroscopy and the development of ionization schemes. Three Ti:Sa lasers operating at 10 kHz repetition rate, with the option of harmonic frequency generation (doubling, tripling or quadrupling) are used to resonantly step-wise ionize the element of the interest. For systematic spectroscopic studies a grating tuned Ti:Sa laser is available that allows a continuous scan range up to 100 nm. With this laser inventory and the test stand Rydberg series and auto-ionizing levels can systematically be studied. Since August 2009 we have commissioned the system and studied Ga, Al and Ca with the new off-line system. The development of efficient laser resonant ionization schemes, their investigation and comparison using the laser ion source test stand and the all solid-state laser system will be discussed.