Laser Spectroscopy of Radioactive Isotopes

Protons and neutrons are not elementary particles, and so the forces which hold them together in a nucleus are not fully understood. We would like to understand the features and properties of nuclei which result, and vary, often quite rapidly, across the nuclear chart. Stable nuclei are only a small fraction of the many nuclei currently known to exist, and to get a full picture we must produce and study those which only live for perhaps milliseconds or less.
This is only possible at international accelerator laboratories, where nuclei are produced in reactions using high energy beams. Electric and magnetic fields (and lasers) are then used to form the radioactive products into beams, filter them, and direct them along vacuum pipes to the experimental stations. The facility we use depends on which nuclei we wish to study.
Laser spectroscopy is used to excite electrons between energy levels, and on the hyperfine level of resolution, the energy levels are split and shifted differently due to the properties of each nucleus. Using this method, the properties of the nucleus will be investigated.