Highly charged ions in exotic atoms research at PSI

[[abstract]]During their de-excitation, exotic atoms formed in low pressure gases reach a state of high or even complete ionization. X-rays emitted from higher n-states of electron-free atoms have well defined energies with the error originating only from the error in the mass values of the constituent particles. They served as a basis for a new determination of the pion mass as well as for a high precision measurement of the pionic hydrogen ground state shift. The response function of the Bragg spectrometer has been determined with X-rays from completely ionized pionic carbon and with a dedicated electron cyclotron resonance ion trap (ECRIT). A further extension of the ECRIT method implemented in the experiment allows a direct calibration of exotic atom transitions as well as a precise determination of the energy of fluorescence lines.[[fileno]]2010112010011[[department]]物理