Eur. Phys. J. A (2017) 53: 108
https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/i2017-12294-5

Regular Article - Experimental Physics

Feasibility study of internal conversion electron spectroscopy of ^229mTh

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Am Coulombwall 1, Garching, Germany

^* e-mail: benedict.seiferle@physik.uni-muenchen.de

Received: 1 February 2017
Accepted: 24 April 2017
Published online: 25 May 2017

Abstract

With an expected energy of 7.8(5) eV, the isomeric first excited state in ²²⁹Th exhibits the lowest excitation energy of all known nuclei. Until today, a value for the excitation energy has been inferred only by indirect measurements. In this paper we propose an experimental method that is potentially capable of measuring the ground-state transition energy via the detection of the internal conversion electrons. MatLab-based Monte Carlo simulations have been performed to obtain an estimate of the expected statistics and to test the feasibility and the expected precision of the experiment. From the simulations we conclude that with the presented methods an energy determination with a precision of better than 0.1 eV is within reach.