Decay spectroscopy of highly charged radioactive ions with TITAN at TRIUMF
For modes of electroweak decay such as electron capture and internal conversion, the spatial distribution of the electron cloud of the atom plays a major role in the decay probability. By successively removing electrons from these systems the decay probability is altered, thus changing the transition rates. In some cases, this can increase or decrease the decay rates by several orders of magnitude. These effects are particularily important in hot, ionizing, astrophysical environments. Due to significant technical challenges of generating and storing highly charged ions (HCIs), studies on these decay modes for HCIs are rare. With the commissioning of the TITAN decay spectroscopy setup at TRIUMF, nuclear decay properties of HCIs can now be studied in ion-traps for the first time. This proceeding reports the technical upgrade of the high-voltage infrastructure to provide access to increasingly ionized radioactive ions for decay study.
