Beam purification by photodetachment (invited).

Ion beam purity is of crucial importance to many basic and applied studies in nuclear science. Selective photodetachment has been proposed to suppress unwanted species in negative ion beams while preserving the intensity of the species of interest. A highly efficient technique based on photodetachment in a gas-filled radio frequency quadrupole ion cooler has been demonstrated. In off-line experiments with stable ions, up to 10(4) times suppression of the isobar contaminants in a number of interesting radioactive negative ion beams has been demonstrated. For selected species, this technique promises new experimental possibilities in studies on exotic nuclei, accelerator mass spectrometry, and fundamental properties of negative atomic and molecular ions.