Optimization of a laser ion source for Ho isotope separation.

To measure the mass of the electron neutrino, the "Electron Capture in Holmium-163" (ECHo) collaboration aims at calorimetrically measuring the spectrum following electron capture in Ho. The success of the ECHo experiment depends critically on the radiochemical purity of the Ho sample, which is ion-implanted into the calorimeters. For this, a 30 kV high transmission magnetic mass separator equipped with a resonance ionization laser ion source is used.