https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/s10050-023-01160-y
Regular Article - Experimental
On the possibility of laser-plasma-induced depopulation of the isomer in 93Mo at ELI-NP
1
Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI-NP) & Horia Hulubei National Institute for R & D in Physics and Nuclear Engineering (IFIN-HH), Str. Reactorului No. 30, 077125, Bucharest, Măgurele, Romania
2
School of Computing, Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of the West of Scotland, High Street, PA1 2BE, Paisley, Scotland
3
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Physics, 405 Atomiştilor Street, 077125, Bucharest, Măgurele, Romania
Received:
25
December
2022
Accepted:
7
October
2023
Published online:
27
November
2023
High-power PW laser systems (HPLS) provide intense beams of accelerated reaction-driving protons simultaneously with spatially localized keV-plasmas. We herein depict our groundwork and strategy to use these unique features of the HPLS at the Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI-NP) by exposing the long-lived nuclear isomer 
at 2.425 MeV (
= 6.85 h) to plasma facilitating the local petawatt beamlines. An intermediate short-lived ( = 3.52 ns) state situated only 4.85 keV above constitutes a gateway to allow for its prompt release. The controllable release of the nuclear isomer energy will henceforth enable harvesting energy densities in the nuclear regime of GJkg
(‘Nuclear Battery’). The campaign was inspired by the observation of the triggered release of via the intermediate state by Chiara et al. [1] published in Nature. They assigned the hitherto elusive Nuclear Excitation by Electron Capture (NEEC) as the driving process and claimed a very high probability of 
. However, these claims are challenged by experimentalists [2, 3] and theory [4]. We herein outline our strategy following bespoke theoretical guidance in the quest to unambiguously and independently demonstrate the onset of NEEC in . With the yield estimations derived for our forthcoming HPLS experiment at ELI-NP, we draw optimism to resolve the current conundrum between the conflicting experimental observations and theoretical interpretations as discussed in world-leading journals and to pave the way for the future utilization of isomer depopulation in applied physics.
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