Accurate isotope shift measurements on short-lived neon isotopes

We report on fast beam collinear laser spectroscopy measurements that demonstrate the feasibility of accurate isotope shift measurements for short lived Ne isotopes including the proton halo candidate 17Ne. Ultra high sensitivity is achieved by the application of an efficient resonance detection scheme based on collisional ionization and ion counting via the β decay. A direct measurement of the kinetic energy of the atomic Ne beam provides the required high accuracy.