THE MELISSA LASER ION SOURCE LABORATORY
The MEDICIS separator is used by employing resonant laser ionization in the hot cavity ion source. Laser light is precisely tuned to drive the fingerprint-like atomic transitions of the chemical element which needs to be extracted. Thus, its ionization efficiency is increased, while potential contaminations remain unaffected. This well-established technique is also used for the majority of beam production at ISOLDE with its Resonance Ionization Ion Source RILIS.
The MEDICIS Laser Ion Source Setup At CERN, MELISSA, was completed in 2019. It hosts the individual lasers, auxiliary and control systems as well as beam transport towards the separator. First laser-ionized species were delivered in April, followed by application for the first radioactive sample separation of this year.
The current setup consists of two solid-state Ti:sapphire lasers, individually pumped by commercial InnoLas Nanio 532-18-Y systems. Additional wide-range tunable laser systems will be delivered in 2020, greatly enhancing the capabilities of performing laser scheme development directly at MEDICIS.
The MELISSA setup was realized in common effort of CERN, KU Leuven and Mainz University in equipment and personnel, greatly supported by MEDICIS user side affiliated to Arronax/Adacap/Subatech.
The MELISSA lab is managed by the CERN SY-STI group.
