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Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 252501 (2007) [4 pages]

Nuclear Charge Radius of 8He

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P. Mueller1,*, I. A. Sulai1,2, A. C. C. Villari3, J. A. Alcántara-Núñez3, R. Alves-Condé3, K. Bailey1, G. W. F. Drake4, M. Dubois3, C. Eléon3, G. Gaubert3, R. J. Holt1, R. V. F. Janssens1, N. Lecesne3, Z.-T. Lu1,2, T. P. O’Connor1, M.-G. Saint-Laurent3, J.-C. Thomas3, and L.-B. Wang5
1Physics Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA
2Department of Physics and Enrico Fermi Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA
3GANIL (IN2P3/CNRS-DSM/CEA), B.P. 55027 F-14076 Caen Cedex 5, France
4Physics Department, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada N9B 3P4
5Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA

Received 21 November 2007; published 21 December 2007

The root-mean-square (rms) nuclear charge radius of 8He, the most neutron-rich of all particle-stable nuclei, has been determined for the first time to be 1.93(3) fm. In addition, the rms charge radius of 6He was measured to be 2.068(11) fm, in excellent agreement with a previous result. The significant reduction in charge radius from 6He to 8He is an indication of the change in the correlations of the excess neutrons and is consistent with the 8He neutron halo structure. The experiment was based on laser spectroscopy of individual helium atoms cooled and confined in a magneto-optical trap. Charge radii were extracted from the measured isotope shifts with the help of precision atomic theory calculations.

© 2007 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.252501
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.252501
PACS:
21.10.Ft, 21.60.−n, 27.20.+n, 31.30.Gs

*pmueller@anl.gov

 
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