Hyperfine Splitting of the 2s1/2 and 2p1/2 Levels in Li- and Be-like Ions of 59141Pr

High-resolution spectroscopy of the 2s(1/2)-2p(1/2) transition in the extreme ultraviolet region is shown to resolve the level splitting induced by the nuclear magnetic field of both the 2s(1/2) and the 2p(1/2) levels in lithiumlike Pr-141(56+) and of the 2s(1/2)2p(1/2)(3)P(1) level in berylliumlike Pr-141(55+). The Pr-141 ions are an ideal test of this measurement approach because their energy levels are known well from first principles and are unaffected by small energy contributions from QED and nuclear magnetization effects. The accuracy attained in the measured 196.5 +/- 1.2 meV 2s(1/2) splitting is more than an order of magnitude better than that achieved before using crystal spectroscopy of the 2s(1/2)-2p(3/2) x-ray transition and at the level needed to implement a proposed scheme for disentangling the contributions from QED and nuclear magnetization effects in higher-Z ions, such as Bi-209.