Phillip Imgram

We report on hyperfine structure measurements of the $1s2s\,{}^{3\!}S_1 \rightarrow 1s2p\,{}^{3\!}P_{0,2}$ fine-structure transitions in the spectrum of $^{11}$B$^{3+}$ ions. The helium-like ions were created in an electron beam ion trap (EBIT) and ejected after a short production period of 15 ms. A challenge of the experiment was the treatment of the complex energy-time-profile of the created ion bunches and the sensitivity of the collinear laser spectroscopy to the starting potential inside the EBIT. Despite these complications and the low statistics of the experiment, we were able to confirm and improve the results of a previous measurement of these transitions. While we find moderate tension in the results for the hyperfine parameters of the $^{3\!}P_{0,2}$ levels, their fine-structure level energies are in reasonable agreement between experiments and with theory.

We present two newly constructed experimental setups - REBEL (Resonant Excitation of Beams with Electromagnetic fields and Lasers) and STRIPE (Stopping and Trapping of Radioactive Isotopes for Precision Experiments) - integrated into a single offline beamline at KU Leuven. REBEL is designed for collinear laser spectroscopy of ion bunches following isobaric separation with a multireflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer, enabling high-sensitivity measurements of mass-selected fast-ion beams. In contrast, STRIPE focuses on the deceleration, trapping, and laser cooling of ions in a segmented linear Paul trap, optimized for long interrogation times and precision spectroscopy. The shared infrastructure features stable high-voltage operation ($<10$ ppm), modular vacuum sections, and a fast-beam switchyard to route ions to either experiment. Initial results include a mass-resolving power of $R \approx 12900$ in REBEL and successful ion trapping and laser cooling of ions with a kinetic energy of 10 keV in STRIPE, with improved performance achieved using a frequency-modulated cooling laser. This dual-system platform enables the development and benchmarking of advanced spectroscopy and trapping techniques and is compatible with future operation at radioactive ion beam facilities.