Cyclotron atom counting

S. D.-H. Shi, C. L. Hendrickson, and A. G. Marshall. Counting Individual Sulfur Atoms in a Protein by Ultrahighresolution Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry Experimental Resolution of Isotopic Fine Structure in Proteins. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 95(1998) 11532-11537. 

A different method became available with modern meson factories, where the characteristic X-radiation from exotic atoms can be studied under optimized conditions and with reasonable count rates. Such experiments require the use of high-intensity external beam lines together with a particle concentrator like the cyclotron trap and a high-resolution low-energy crystal spectrometer. 

Shi, S.D.H., Hendrickson, C.L. and Marshall, A.G. (1998) Counting individual sulfur atoms in a protein by ultrahigh-resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry experimental resolution of isotopic fine structure in proteins. Proc. Natl. 

An important property of the MOT is the ability to catch atoms whose optical frequencies are shifted from the laser frequency by only a few natural linewidths. This property has been applied for ultrasensitive isotope trace analysis. Chen et al. (1999) developed the technique in order to detect a counted number of atoms of the radioactive isotopes Kr and Kr, with abundances 10 and 10 relative to the stable isotope Kr. The technique was called atom trap trace analysis (ATTA). At present, only the technique of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) has a detection sensitivity comparable to that of ATTA. Unlike the AMS technique based on a high-power cyclotron, the ATTA technique is much simpler and does not require a special operational environment. In the experiments by Chen et al. (1999), krypton gas was injected into a DC discharge volume, where the atoms were excited to a metastable level. 2D transverse laser cooling was used to collimate the atomic beam, and the Zee-man slowing technique was used to load the atoms into the MOT. With the specific laser frequency chosen for trapping the Kr or Kr isotope, only the chosen isotope could be trapped by the MOT. The experiment was able to detect a single trapped atom of an isotope, which remained in the MOT for about a second. 

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