Optimising the experimental approach to Nuclear Excitation by Electron Capture

Nuclear Excitation by Electron Capture (NEEC) is a complex process which is at the boundary between atomic and nuclear physics, defined as the inverse of internal conversion. It requires a broad expertise in nuclear, atomic, laser, plasma, and accelerator physics, and so the work is presented from an interdisciplinary perspective. NEEC is part of a wider branch of exotic nuclear excitation mechanisms under the name ‘nuclear isomeric triggering’ or ‘depletion’ and this thesis provides a road-map to constructing NEEC experiments that are able to be compared with the present theoretical models for NEEC. This helps us achieve better numerical estimates as to how feasible NEEC can be as a depletion mechanism in various environments and contexts. We rigorously present a ‘figure of merit’ that can be applied to all NEEC experiments across the different techniques, and provide the first exhaustive candidate search of both the nuclear and subsequent atomic species. This has resulted in an experimental design and astrophysical
calculation tool, which is made available to the research community.