The MORA project (Matter’s Origin from Radioactivity) is an experimental setup dedicated to measure the triple-correlation parameter D in the nuclear beta decay of $^{23}$Mg and $^{39}$Ca. The $D$ correlation is a triple correlation between the spin of the decaying nucleus, the momentum of the emitted electron or positron, and the momentum of the emitted neutrino in mixed Fermi and...
Isotope Separator On-Line (ISOL) facilities are central to the production of high-purity radioactive ion beams (RIBs) for a variety of research applications. Emerging facilities are increasingly focused on high-power operation, where radioisotope yields are expected to scale directly with the primary beam power. However, significant engineering challenges must be addressed to ensure that...
The properties of heavy neutron-rich nuclei are critical to explain the formation and existence of heavy elements in the universe. However, it is well known that certain regions on the nuclear chart, particularly those heavier and more neutron-rich than the heaviest stable primary beams, i.e., $^{238}$U, cannot be accessed using conventional production methods. Among the alternative...
The Isotope Separator and Accelerator (ISAC) facility at TRIUMF is a world class laboratory for the production and delivery of rare isotopes. ISAC uses the isotope separation on-line (ISOL) method to create a variety of exotic isotopes, utilizing high-intensity proton beams from TRIUMF’s 500 MeV cyclotron. The proton beam is impinged on a thick target which sits inside a target assembly. The...
High-spin nuclear isomers in rare unstable beams are important for studies in nuclear structure, nuclear astrophysics, and applied research. While fragmentation reactions, widely used at in-flight rare-isotope beam facilities, can produce a diverse range of nuclides, the selective and high-intensity production and separation of specific isomer states remain challenging. This study aimed to...
The forthcoming DESIR facility will soon open new perspectives for low-energy nuclear physics experiments at GANIL. Radioactive ion beams from SPIRAL1 and S³ facilities, including very exotic isotopes produced at competitive rates for dedicated studies, are set to be delivered at low energy, low emittance and with high purity to various mass measurement, decay spectroscopy or laser...
The TATTOOS Facility
Stuart Warren*, R. Eichler, M. Hartmann, A. Ivanov, S. Jollet, H. Jöhri, R. Hübscher, D. Kiselev, D. Laube, R. Martinie, M. Mostamand, D. Reggiani, J. Snuverink, N. van der Meulen, U. Wellenkam
Paul Scherrer Institute, PSI Forschungsstrasse 111, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
Stuart.warren@psi.ch
TATTOOS (Targeted Alpha...
Tackling the increasing challenge to determine the mass of isotopes having low production yields and short half-lives, multi-reflection time-of- flight (MRTOF) mass spectrometry has grown from an initially rarely-used technology to the world’s most commonly-used method for measurements with a relative mass precision down to $\delta m/m = 10^{−8}$. This technology has been developed at RIKEN’s...
Investigating the boundaries of the nuclear chart and understanding the structure of the heaviest elements are at the forefront of nuclear physics. The existence of the superheavy nuclei is intimately linked to nuclear shell effects which counteract Coulomb repulsion and therefore hinder spontaneous fission. In the region of heavy deformed nuclei weak shell gaps arise around $Z$=100 and...
Improving the resolution of particle identification is a crucial challenge in nuclear physics experiments using heavy ion beams. Among the important parameters for particle identification is the particle velocity, which is generally determined by measuring the time of flight (TOF) of charged particles. Enhancing the resolution of TOF measurements can be achieved by either extending the flight...
The online commissioning experiments of CLaSsy, a Collinear Laser Spectroscopy setup at RAON, were conducted at the end of 2024 with KNUE and CENS collaborators, observing the optical D1 and D2 transitions for sodium isotopes ($^{21}Na$, $^{22}Na$ and $^{23}Na$). The isotopes were provided in the form of bunched beams with a repetition rate of 10 Hz using the Radio Frequency Quadrupole-Cooler...
The study of radioactive isotopes is essential for deepening our understanding of the nuclear force, particularly in systems with extreme proton-to-neutron ratios. Efforts to unravel how collective phenomena emerge from complex many-body interactions continue to drive progress in nuclear and atomic theory, as well as in the techniques for producing and probing radioactive ion beams. Among...
Superheavy elements edge the limits of matter's existence. Their extreme proton content presents opportunities to explore fundamental questions across chemistry, atomic physics, and nuclear physics. For instance, we ponder how enhanced relativistic effects impact atomic structure and chemical properties, or how nuclear shell effects evolve under such extreme conditions. Yet, the journey to...
Ever since its introduction in the mid 1970s, laser cooling has become a fundamental technique to prepare and control ions and atoms for a wide range of precision experiments. In the realm of rare isotope science, for instance, specific atom species of short-lived radionuclides have been laser-cooled for fundamental-symmetries studies [1] or for measurements of hyperfine-structure constants...
To better understand key nuclear properties, tremendous effort has been put over the past decades into ab initio theoretical models [1], capable of reproducing experimental data with increasingly higher precision. Benchmarking these models requires precise measurements of key nuclear observables, among which electromagnetic moments and charge radii play complementary roles.
Measurements of...
Electron scattering is a powerful tool for studying nuclear structure, because it allows model-independent studies of nuclear structure. For example, the charge density distribution of nuclei can be determined very accurately by electron elastic scattering. Therefore, electron scattering has been long awaited in the study of unstable nuclei, especially short-lived unstable nuclei.
There...
In storage ring-based mass spectrometry, charged particles with nonzero emittance exhibit characteristic betatron oscillations in the transverse plane. The effects of the betatron oscillation on the revolution time has been observed in previous isochronous mass measurement experiments in HIRFL-CSRe. However, one cannot distinguish the pure betaron oscillation effects from the effects of...
Isochronous mass spectrometry (IMS) is one of mass measurement methods particularly effective for short-lived nuclei. In this method, a storage ring is used to measure the revolution time of the particles. Since the revolution times of the particles are proportional to the mass-to-charge ratios of the particles, the nuclear masses can be deduced using IMS. One of the storage rings for IMS is...
Heavy, highly charged ions stored at low energy are ideal probes for various questions of modern physics that range from tests of QED, especially at high fields, to detailed investigations of nuclear reactions. CRYRING@ESR is a low energy storage ring transferred from Stockholm, Sweden, to Darmstadt in order to profit from the exceptional production capabilities of exotic ions at GSI,...
Superheavy elements tend to decay mostly by alpha decay and spontaneous fission and their detection and study often relies on the detection of the alpha particles and the fission products using silicon detectors. In addition, half-lives can be deduced through the timestamps of implantation and decay events. This is possible due to the fact that after production, the ions have 10s of MeV of...
To reveal the origin of heavy-element synthesis in the universe, studying nuclear properties such as half-life, atomic mass, and nuclear structure is essential. Particularly, the properties of heavy-element nuclei located in unreachable regions, specifically those in the vicinity of the neutron magic number N = 126 and neutron-rich actinide nuclei, are crucial for understanding the r-process....
High resolution separators have a reputation as being unstable and difficult to tune. The ARIEL HRS has been designed to overcome these difficult characteristics. To do this, it has two unique features. (1) The matching system into and out of the HRS acts as both a matcher and a dispersion-magnifier. (2) The aberration correction is not performed using a conventional multipole. Instead, the...
The combination of continuous wave 5 mA proton or deuteron 40 MeV beams on a unique thick GaIn liquid jet target [1] will generate a high-energy neutron rate of more than $10^{15}$ neutrons per second at the Soreq Applied Research Accelerator Facility (SARAF), currently under construction in Yavne, Israel [2].
We are currently designing SARONA – SARaf exotic Nuclide fAcility, where the...
The IMPACT (Isotope and Muon Production using Advanced Cyclotron and Target technologies) initiative is a two-fold upgrade project envisaged for the HIPA (High Intensity Proton Accelerator) machine at PSI. As part of IMPACT, the TATTOOS (Targeted Alpha Tumour Therapy and Other Oncological Solutions) facility is being developed in collaboration with the University of Zurich (UZH), and the...
High-fluence isotope implantation using magnetic mass separation has become a critical technique across various research fields. For example, in medical isotope production, one of the key research areas is the purification of these radionuclides through mass separation followed by implantation. Additionally, mass-separated, implanted targets are used for nuclear charge radius determination...
Some nuclei, such as gadolinium, exhibit exceptionally large neutron capture cross sections—far exceeding typical geomatical cross section of atomic nuclei. This indicates the existence of exotic nuclear structures, such as spatially extended neutron halo states, which remain underexplored, particularly in heavy nuclei.
To investigate such states, we are developing a new approach based on...
Cluster knockout reaction in inverse kinematics is a direct probe to study cluster formation in nuclei. We have previously developed a silicon detector system optimized for measuring recoil protons emitted in such reactions, achieving high-precision data acquisition using APV25-S1 readout chips.
In this study, we newly developed trapezoidal silicon detectors capable of detecting emitted...
ISOL@MYRRHA will be an ISOL facility featuring, in the phase 1 of the MYRRHA project, a proton beam of energy 100 MeV and currents up to 500 µA. This facility will produce RIBs for several research applications in fundamental interactions, nuclear physics, condensed matter, biology and nuclear medicine.
The first-generation targets of ISOL@MYRRHA are being designed for proton beam currents of...
Pions (Yukawa particles) mediate the strong interaction between nucleons and play a crucial role in the formation and stability of atomic nuclei. Their influence manifests through tensor forces and three-body forces, significantly contributing to nuclear binding and saturation properties—yet many aspects remain poorly understood. In particular, pions are essential in connecting low- and...
Precision laser spectroscopy is a powerful technique for investigating nuclear properties such as nuclear spins, electromagnetic moments, and changes in the mean-square radii in a way that is independent of a nuclear model [1]. Measurements using this technique are essential for testing and advancing nuclear theories. The Collinear Resonance Ionization Spectroscopy (CRIS) setup located at CERN...
The design of a 3-sector high-resolution Multi-Turn Time-Of-Flight Mass Analyzer (MT-TOF MA) with a diameter of 300 mm and a flight path of ~30 m at 46 turns is presented. The analyzer has rotational and mid-plane symmetry of the main electrodes. It includes lower and upper polar-toroidal sectors S1 and S3, toroidal sector S2 located in the mid-plane, a pair of polar lenses for lateral...
A SCRIT (Self-confining RI Ion target) technique forms an ion target in an electron storage ring for electron-RI scattering experiments. The target ions are trapped transversely by periodic focusing forces of electron beam bunches and longitudinally by an electrostatic well potential produced by the SCRIT device. The trapped target ions are focused onto the electron beam axis as their charge...
Laser spectroscopy experiments are an indispensable tool in modern nuclear structure studies. Hyperfine structure and isotope shift data such as nuclear moments and charge radii obtained in such experiments serve as tests of state-of-the-art theories[1]. Such data are particularly sparse for heavy and superheavy nuclei[2]. Our collaboration's experiment JetRIS has been successfully applied to...
Electron-beam-driven RI separator for SCRIT (ERIS) [1] is dedicated to produce a high-quality and low-energy radioisotope (RI) beam for the SCRIT (Self-Confinement RI Target) electron scattering facility [2] at the RIKEN RI Beam Factory. Electron scattering is one of the useful ways to accurately understand the internal structure of atomic nuclei. The aim of this facility is realization of...
Multireflection time-of-flight mass spectrographs (MRTOF-MS) are essential tools for high-precision mass spectrometry of short-lived nuclides. Three such devices are currently in online operation at the GARIS, BigRIPS, and KISS facilities of RIKEN RIBF, enabling accurate mass determinations of exotic nuclides such as Ti-58 [1], Db-258 [2], and U-241 [3], and others [4]. A key component of the...
At the Research Center for Nuclear Physics (RCNP), Osaka University, the ONOKORO project is underway to systematically investigate cluster knockout reactions. Previous measurements of the Sn(p, pα) reaction have provided experimental evidence for α-cluster formation at the surface of heavy nuclei. In this program, a double-arm spectrometer setup is employed, consisting of the Grand Raiden...
A tiny time-projection chamber (Mini TPC) has been developed for tracking beam particles in the active target. CAT-M consists of a large TPC and twelve silicon strip detectors, and which is designed for missing mass spectroscopy using high-intensity ($\sim 10^{6}$ particles per particle) heavy-ion beam inverse kinematics, aim to determine nuclear matter equation of state. Recently a dipole...
The High-Intensity Heavy-Ion Accelerator Facility (HIAF), developed by the Institute of Modern Physics (IMP), is scheduled to operate by the end of 2025. HIAF comprises a superconducting linac, a booster ring, a spectrometer ring, and a High-rigidity Radioactive Ion Beam Line (HIRIBL) connecting these two rings [1]. HIRIBL is an in-flight projectile fragment separator designed to produce...
Proton-neutron pair correlations in neutron-rich nuclei is one of the attractive topics relating to the structure and dynamics in largely-different-scale nucleon many body systems, nuclei and neutron stars. To investigate such correlations, we are aiming for extracting isoscalar and isovector proton-neutron transfer strengths in neutron-rich nuclei via the proton-neutron transfer reactions...
Isotope Separation Online (ISOL) facilities produce purified radioactive isotope beams (RIBs) for applications in fundamental research, solid-state physics, biology and medicine. As part of the first phase of the MYRRHA program at SCK CEN, an ISOL facility is being developed to operate with a high-power 100 MeV proton beam (with intensities up to 500 μA). This study focuses on optimizing...
The ARIEL High Resolution Separator at TRIUMF is designed to have a mass resolving power of 20000 for an accepted emittance of 3μm x 6μm. Two 90° dipoles serve as the separating elements, with multipole correction between them to improve the preservation of emittance. At the entrance and exit, the ion beam envelope is magnified by quadrupoles to ease mechanical requirements of the slits which...
Iain D. Moore for the IGISOL collaboration
Accelerator Laboratory, University of Jyväskylä, 40014 Jyväskylä, Finland.
A campaign of measurements has been performed at the IGISOL facility, Accelerator Laboratory of Jyväskylä, exploring a long chain of silver isotopes resulting in measurements of charge radii, electromagnetic moments, spins, masses and excitation energies [1,2]. Different...
Unitarity tests of the Cabbibo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) quark mixing matrix offer unique insight into the electroweak part of the Standard Model. A reliable unitarity test of this matrix requires a precise and accurate value of the largest element, $V_{ud}$. Recent improvements to a theoretical correction term have prompted the need to extract $V_{ud}$ from a larger subset of nuclei including...
Commissioned in 1969, the Leuven Isotope Separator (LIS) was extensively used for radioisotope implantation and Mössbauer spectroscopy in solid-state research [1]. After years of inactivity, efforts to bring the machine back to operational status began in 2020 [2].
Reviving a decades-old radioactive machine proved far from straightforward. Unexpected radioactive hotspots, undocumented...
The BigRIPS in-flight separator [1] at RIKEN RIBF, which began operation in March 2007, has provided a substantial variety of radioactive isotopes (RIs) as beams over a wide nuclear region, from light-mass ions to heavy RIs around U isotopes [2, 3].
The system features a two-stage configuration of achromatic separation and large ion-optical acceptance.
In addition, by using state-of-the-art...
Recently, the collinear laser spectroscopy (CLS) apparatus, called CLaSsy, has been successfully commissioned, which has been tested by using the Na isotopes from the ISOL facility at RAON. The spectroscopic resolution achieved has been sufficient to resolve the D1 line hyperfine structure of the $^2$S$_{1/2}$ ground state and the $^2$P$_{1/2}$ excited state, while limiting the measurement of...
Studies of nuclei far from the valley of stability are of interest, as they offer valuable insights into novel or unexpected nuclear properties. These studies are relevant to various fields of physics ranging from fundamental physics, nuclear astrophysics, and applications. Therefore, it is important to produce, identify and study such exotic nuclei far from the valley of stability. The...
Multi-nucleon transfer (MNT) reactions between two heavy ions offer an effective method of producing heavy, neutron-rich nuclei that cannot currently be accessed efficiently using traditional projectile-fragmentation, target-fragmentation or fission production techniques [1]. These nuclei are important for understanding many astrophysical phenomena. For example, properties of the neutron-rich...
The experimental determination of atomic and nuclear properties such as atomic energy levels, ionization potentials, electromagnetic moments, as well as trends in mean-square charge radii for nuclei in the region of the heaviest elements remain limited. The main challenges are low production rates in accelerator facilities and the short half-life of the fusion products. This necessitates the...
The scientific program of the new IRL between CNRS and TRIUMF will be described.
The Self-Confining RI Ion Target(SCRIT) method is a unique technique for forming an ion target for electron-RI scattering experiments. In the SCRIT method, target ions are trapped in all three spatial dimensions inside the electron storage ring. The world's first electron scattering experiment with $^{137}$Cs ions produced by the ISOL was successfully conducted at RIKEN RI Beam Factory...
Systematic measurement of isoscalar giant monopole resonances, especially in unstable nuclei, via inelastic scattering in inverse kinematics is one of the important issues for determining the nuclear matter equation of state. An active target TPC, CAT-M, has been developed [1] for such measurement, using high-intensity heavy-ion beams of up to approximately 10$^6$ counts per second. The...
Research on short-lived unstable nuclei (radioactive isotopes, RI) has progressed rapidly in recent years, driven by advances in accelerator technology as well as RI production and separation techniques. Consequently, nuclear reaction experiments with rare RIs far from the valley of stability have been drawing increasing attention. To improve the measurement accuracy of nuclear reactions with...
The charge radius or point-proton radius is an important quantity for investigating nuclear structure. Although electron scattering experiments and isotope-shift measurements have provided many precise data on charge radii, these methods are limited to long-lived and abundantly produced nuclei. Therefore, we proposed an applicability of the charge changing cross section ($\sigma_{cc}$) to...
We have launched ESPRI+ and ONOKORO projects to investigate uniform and nonuniform properties in nuclei and nuclear matter.
Under these projects, we plan to perform the experiments to measure proton elastic scattering and proton induced cluster knockout reaction in inverse kinematics at RIBF, Riken.
For these experiments, we are developing the new telescopes named DELTA and...
The Rare-RI Ring (R3) is an isochronous mass spectrometer aimed at measuring the masses of exotic nuclei that are rarely produced with short lifetimes (<10 ms). Since the successful commissioning experiment ten years ago, the technical developments have been continued to improve the efficiency and precision for mass measurements. The vertical steering magnets recently installed at the...
To study the r-process, experimental information is scarce and modern r-process network calculations rely on theoretical models that give divergent predictions as one moves away from the valley of stability. Nuclear masses help to determine the r-process path and shed light on the nucleosynthesis environment.
The neutron-rich nuclei at $N = 126$ that populate the r-process third abundance...
The Batch Mode Ion Source (BMIS) [1] at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) has been in use since 2021 to provide long-lived and stable isotope beams of various elements for successful user experiments [2]. Its design is based on target-ion-source modules developed and employed at the ISOLDE frontends at CERN [3]. At FRIB, source samples of the desired isotope, which consist of the...
Molecular ion production from the TRIUMF FEBIAD ion source was systematically studied as a function of source operating parameters. During an opportunistic beamtime shift, the FEBIAD was optimized while isobaric species were measured using TITAN’s MR-TOF mass spectrometer. Exploring parameter "islands" revealed how each region corresponds to distinct molecular species. This approach was...
Target materials are routinely irradiated at TRIUMF to produce radioactive isotopes. These materials have customized properties that facilitate the delivery of short-lived species (with half-lives of <10 ms) to experimental stations.
With the development of the Advanced Rare Isotope Laboratory (ARIEL), we are expanding our scientific capabilities by adding two additional stations, which will...
The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), operational since 2022, launches a new era of scientific discovery that builds upon its unprecedented primary beam power. Two complementary gas stoppers are in use to provide stopped and re-accelerated rare isotope beams to users, significantly extending FRIB’s scientific program beyond fast beams. Swift and efficient gas stopper tuning is required...
Cluster formation is a fundamental phenomenon in nuclear physics and is crucial for understanding nuclear structure and dynamics. To study cluster formation in nuclei, we use quasi-free knockout reactions with a proton probe to directly measure clusters formed in the nucleus. This approach, combined with inverse kinematics, allows measurements over a wide range of nuclei.
To implement this...
After many years of routine tumor treatment with heavy-ion beams (such as 12C) [1,2], several recent advancements have paved the way for hadron therapy using light, positron-emitting ion beams [3, 4]. Studies have demonstrated that selected light ion beams (e.g., up to mass number A = 20) can be efficiently produced via fragmentation reactions and in-flight separation, making them viable...
The Resonance Ionization Laser Ion Source (RILIS) has become the most-used ion source type in the ISOL (Isotope Separator On-Line) facilities worldwide due to its element selectivity and high ionization efficiency. The hot-cavity type RILIS developed at RAON is based on resonant excitation of atomic transitions by the frequency tuned laser beams which are overlapped temporally and spatially...
The RAON ISOL (Isotope Separation On-Line) system has been in operation for rare isotope beam production since March 2023. In the early phase, surface-ionized beams of Li, Na, and Al were produced from a SiC target bombarded with a 70 MeV, 1 kW proton beam. The measurement of short-lived $^{24\mathrm{m}}$Na ($T_{1/2} = 20\mathrm{ms}$) demonstrated good release efficiency of the SiC target....
The Isotope Separation On-Line (ISOL) system at the Institute for Rare Isotope Science (IRIS) has successfully produced a variety of rare isotopes (RIs). Various diagnostic devices are used to verify the RIs. Ions extracted from the Target Ion Source (TIS) are cooled and bunched using the Radio Frequency Quadrupole Cooler-Buncher (RFQ-CB) to improve the charge breeding efficiency of the...
The CERN HIE-ISOLDE facility accelerates a unique worldwide variety of radioactive ions up to collision energies close to 10 MeV/A. The physics program encompasses a broad range of nuclear structure studies, from shell evolution to nuclear astrophysics. To fully profit from the new facility, our collaboration has proposed the construction of the “Superconducting Recoil Separator” ISRS will...
Ion traps have become an essential tool for precision studies of rare isotopes, allowing researchers to confine and manipulate individual ions, or ensembles of ions, for extended periods. They are used in a wide variety of applications involving rare isotopes, from enabling measurements with unprecedented accuracy, even for species delivered at extremely low rates, to preparing high-quality,...
Isotope Separation On-Line (ISOL) is a method of isotope production where a target, typically held in a tantalum container, is bombarded with a high energy driver beam, upon which the resulting radioisotopes are ionized and mass separated. High temperatures are required for a sufficient yield, but a combination of these harsh conditions and carbon corrosion from carbide targets leads to target...
In-flight decay spectroscopy is an experimental method that involves observing the decay of radioactive nuclei while they are in swift motion [1,2]. It allows for the study of exotic nuclei at and even beyond the
driplines, to unravel their internal structure and their decay; for instance, it provides valuable information about the decay energy and width of the parent nucleus, insight into...
TATTOOS (Targeted Alpha Tumor Therapy and Other Oncological Solutions) offers the potential to produce radionuclidically pure radioisotopes towards radiopharmaceutical applications, revolutionizing cancer diagnosis and treatment. The facility plans to utilize a portion (100 μA) of the high-intensity (~2.4 mA), high-energy (590 MeV) proton beam from the ring cyclotron at Paul Scherrer...
With multiple planned online target stations and offline test stands, TRIUMF is establishing a unique facility for the production of radioactive ion beams (RIBs). This multi-station configuration, centered around the ARIEL project, creates unique opportunities for systematic R&D on ISOL targets, ion sources, and associated technologies. The magnitude of the project presents commissioning...
Isotope Separation Online (ISOL) facilities generate purified radioactive isotope beams for research in fundamental nuclear and atomic physics, condensed-matter, biology and medical applications. As part of the first phase of the MYRRHA program at SCK CEN, a new ISOL facility is being developed, ISOL@MYRRHA, featuring a high-power 100-MeV proton beam with currents up to 500 μA. This will...
Heavy $N=Z$ nuclei and nuclei in their vicinity are highly interesting to study; they can provide important insights about nuclear structure, symmetries and interactions and have a high impact in modelling nuclear astrophysics processes ($rp$-process, $\nu p$-process). A few examples of the striking phenomena emerging in these nuclei are the formation of high-spin isomeric states, the direct...
Precision laser spectroscopy is a powerful technique for investigating nuclear properties such as nuclear spins, electromagnetic moments, and changes in the mean-square radii in a way that is independent of a nuclear model [1]. Measurements using this technique are essential for testing and advancing nuclear theories. The Collinear Resonance Ionization Spectroscopy (CRIS) setup located at CERN...
Experimental investigations targeting chemical properties of superheavy elements (SHE) have reached element 115 (Mc) [1]. Chemistry experiments of the heaviest elements are carried out by thermalizing their energetic recoils produced in fusion-evaporation reactions within a gas-filled volume and transporting these solely by gas-flow to a detection setup. The transport process typically...
Molecules have proven to be powerful laboratories to explore unknown aspects of the fundamental forces of nature and to search for physics beyond the standard model. By choosing molecules containing radioactive isotopes with different spins and deformation one can explore aspects of the fundamental forces even further and reach unparalleled enhancement of symmetry-violating properties. Among...
At RIKEN RI Beam Factory (RIBF), heavy-ion beams such as 238U accelerated to 345 MeV/nucleon are utilized to produce a wide variety of short-lived nuclei through projectile fragmentation or in-flight fission reactions, induced when these beams impinge on a beryllium target. This target is placed at the entrance of the BigRIPS separator. Beam ions that do not undergo nuclear reactions at the...
For over 30 years, the TwinSol radioactive ion beam facility at Notre Dame’s Nuclear Science Laboratory has provided in-flight radioactive ion beams (RIB) to a variety of experiments probing nuclear structure, astrophysics and fundamental symmetries. These relatively low-mass, high-rate beams have enabled a swath of science, including high-precision beta-decay half-life measurements, probes...
The NEXT setup [1] has been designed and built to study Neutron-rich, heavy, EXotic nuclei produced in multinucleon Transfer reactions. NEXT is a new experiment at the PARTREC facility in Groningen which has been recently installed in a dedicated beamline at the AGOR cyclotron [2]. The AGOR cyclotron at PARTREC is capable to deliver highly intense heavy ion beam at energies well suited for...
Studying exotic nuclei at the nuclear driplines presents many challenges: Firstly, production rates can fall below a particle per second. Secondly, isobaric contamination can be many orders of magnitude greater than the species of interest. Lastly, half-lives become increasingly small, often milliseconds if not shorter. Under these conditions, experiments require tools capable of fast,...
Searches for new physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics re- quire new and innovative probes to push experimental sensitivities past their current limits. Francium silver (FrAg) is a designer molecule that offers en- hanced sensitivity to new physics, in particular to time-reversal violation inside the atomic nucleus when incorporating the octuple-deformed 223Fr isotope. As...
The Isotope Separator and ACcelerator (ISAC) facility at TRIUMF supplies both stable and rare isotope beams for a variety of nuclear astrophysics experiments. One of these, the Detector of Recoils And Gammas Of Nuclear reactions (DRAGON), investigates reaction rates of astrophysical processes via radiative capture measurements. Currently, rare isotope beams delivered to DRAGON are manually...
The Isotope Separation On-Line (ISOL) technique has enabled advances in many fields spanning in nuclear, atomic, molecular, solid-state and medical physics by producing radioisotopes at facilities like CERN ISOLDE and the emerging ISOL@MYRRHA. Tuning these facilities is a complex task that requires manual intervention by experienced operators, a process that is often time-consuming due to the...
Efficient production of radioactive isotope (RI) beams is critical for advancing nuclear physics research, and the superconducting in-flight separator BigRIPS has been a key component in this effort since 2007. To maximize user beam time and achieve optimal scientific outcomes, we have continuously refined technologies related to RI-beam separation and particle identification analysis. Key...
In general, accelerator facilities are controlled by a huge number of parameters. The RIKEN RI Beam Factory (RIBF), a heavy-ion accelerator complex consisting of several cyclotrons and Linacs, is controlled or influenced by more than 600 parameters, including environmental factors. To optimize these parameters more efficiently and accurately, we are attempting to implement Bayesian...
A quartet of short-lived terbium isotopes, $^{149}$Tb, $^{152}$Tb, $^{155}$Tb and $^{161}$Tb, has been identified to have complementary decay characteristics with a unique potential to cover all modalities of nuclear medicine in both therapy and diagnostics [1]. Of particular interest is the alpha-emitter, $^{149}$Tb, which could fill the gap in targeted alpha therapy. However, the production...
Separation of rare isotopes is of high relevance for a multitude of different applications ranging from the half-life determination of the cosmogenic radionuclide $^{53}$Mn for MeaNCoRN [1], over decay measurements of $^{55}$Fe for the EMPIR Prima-LTD project [2], $^{157}$Tb for studies of nuclear data at the PTB [3], the precise measurement of the decay spectrum of $^{163}$Ho for neutrino...
The RAON accelerator facility in Korea has recently initiated low-energy nuclear physics experiments using ion beams accelerated by the superconducting linear accelerator SCL3. As part of the Phase-1 operation, three major experimental systems for low-energy experiments—KoBRA (Korea Broad acceptance Recoil spectrometer and Apparatus), NDPS (Nuclear Data Production System), and CLaSsy...
Resonant ionization laser ion sources (RILIS) are highly efficient, element selective ion sources that are simple to implement at radioactive ion beam facilities, as the ion source's complexity is far removed from the high radiation, high temperature environment of the ISOL target & ion source region. With modern solid state laser technology a RILIS can operate reliably for the duration of...
Next-generation in-flight radioactive isotope (RI) beam facilities, including the RIKEN Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory (RIBF), the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), and the upcoming Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR), primarily use two reaction mechanisms: in-flight fission for medium-mass neutron-rich isotopes and projectile fragmentation for high-purity RI beams near the...
The resonance ionization laser ion sources RILIS, pioneered by V.S. Letokhov and his group in the 1980ties, have since found wide applications at all on-line isotope separator facilities worldwide. This success is based on the excellent specifications of ultimate ionization efficiency, realized for most elements of the periodic table, combined with very high selectivity achieved by suppressing...
SPIRAL1 (Système de Production d’Ions Radioactifs Accélérés en Ligne phase 1) is an ISOL system installed at GANIL (Grand Accélérateur National d’Ions Lourds) at CAEN/France. Since 2001, it uses a large variety of primary beams, from C to U, at energies up to 95 MeV/u to produce low energy or post-accelerated Radioactive Ion Beams (RIB). The possibilities of primary beam and target coupling...
The SCRIT facility at RIKEN recently achieved the world’s first electron scattering experiments with online-produced radioactive isotopes (RIs)[1,2]. The next milestone is an electron scattering experiment using a high-purity $^{132}$Sn ion beam. However, the current ISOL-type RI production system at SCRIT, ERIS, inherently produces isobaric contaminants, particularly $^{132}$Sb, which impede...
Production of radioactive ion (RI) beams at RIKEN RIBF using the BigRIPS fragment separator requires dedicated studies of RI-beam separation and particle identification (PID), particularly for heavy-ions or low-energy beams. Challenges arise from the charge-state change and inaccurate energy loss predictions. While post-experiment analysis provides valuable insights for further improvements,...
Abstract Proton therapy has become an advanced radiotherapy technique for cancer treatment due to its precise dose distribution and minimal tissue side effect. Currently, most proton therapy centers utilize cyclotrons, which offer significant commercial and medical advantages, to provide high current proton beams. Based on the 230 MeV superconducting cyclotron CYCIAE-230 independently...
The Resonance Ionization Laser Ion Source (RILIS) has become the most-used ion source type in the ISOL (Isotope Separator On-Line) facilities worldwide due to its element selectivity and high ionization efficiency. The hot-cavity type RILIS developed at RAON is based on resonant excitation of atomic transitions by the frequency tuned laser beams which are overlapped temporally and spatially...
Understanding alpha-condensate states is essential for investigating the properties of nuclear matter in low-density regions. Theoretically, such states are expected to exist in nuclei with mass number $A < 40$. There has been a general consensus that the ground state ($0^+_1$) of $^8$Be and the $0^+_2$ state of $^{12}$C correspond to 2$\alpha$ and 3$\alpha$ condensate states, respectively....
Abstract The global demand for medical isotopes is continuously expanding. Currently, ultra-compact cyclotrons built with mature superconducting technology are highly favored due to their high beam intensity, small footprint, and significant commercial advantages. However, their strong magnetic fields, ultra-compact structure, and the high beam intensity required for high production...
Abstract The medical isotope Astatine-211 (At-211), an alpha emitter, has significant application prospects in Targeted Alpha Therapy (TAT). Due to its high linear energy transfer (LET) and short range characteristics, it can effectively destruct cancer cells while causing relatively little damage to the surrounding healthy tissues. The production of At-211 is mainly achieved by bombarding...
Abstract The medical radioisotopes such as $^{89} Zr $, $^{68} Ge$, $^{82} Sr$, $^{64} Cu$, $^{225} Ac$, and $^{211} At$ have been attracting a lot of attention in nuclear medicine. In this paper, the isotope development activities of $^{225} Ac$ produced by 100 MeV cyclotron CYCIAE-100 was described briefly. The reaction is $^{232} Th$ (p,x)$^{225} Ac$, for which the proton beam energy of...
The ISOLDE facility at CERN is one of the most versatile and prolific facilities worldwide for the production of exotic isotopes using the Isotope Separation On-Line (ISOL) method. The HIE-ISOLDE project has realized a cutting-edge superconducting post-accelerator capable of delivering radioactive ion beams with energies up to 10 MeV/u, making ISOLDE a unique facility worldwide to accelerate...
Atoms of different chemical elements exhibit characteristic spectra that serve as their unique fingerprints. Our knowledge of their spectra has allowed the identification of heavy elements in extragalactic stars, and even in neutron star mergers where half of the elements are thought to be produced.
Till date, very little is known about the atomic structure of the heaviest elements, which...
The inelastic scattering and gamma decay coincidence measurement, e.g., ($p$,$p'$$\gamma$) and ($\alpha$,$\alpha'$$\gamma$), is a great tool to study nuclear structures. In order to realize the measurement, we performed campaign-type experiments using high-resolution spectrometer Grand Raiden and Germanium detector array CAGRA at Research Center for Nuclear Physics (RCNP), Osaka University in...
The ISAC facility at TRIUMF hosts two high purity germanium detector arrays which allow for world-class gamma-ray spectroscopy experiments: TIGRESS (mainly used for reaction studies) and GRIFFIN (for decay studies). These detectors are typically utilized in radioactive beam experiments, however the finite beamtime available at ISAC results in regular periods of downtime where the detector...
A $\mu^+$SR technique has been used to measure self-diffusion coefficients and activation energies of ions in cathode materials such as Li$_x$CoO$_2$. [1] However, direct determination can be challenging due to the use of models such as a dynamic Kubo-Toyabe function, as well as difficulties in distinguishing muon diffusion itself from Li$^+$ diffusion at high temperatures.
First principles...
Abstract Driven by various applications such as the development and supply of radioactive isotopes, the construction of an ultra-compact superconducting cyclotron has been started at the China Academy of Atomic Energy since 2025 to accelerate charged particles with a charge to mass ratio of 1:2. This machine has two technical difficulties or challenges: 1) ultra compact superconducting...
Abstract The proton therapy system based on 230 MeV superconducting cyclotron is under development at China Institute of Atomic Energy. The system consists of a 230 MeV superconducting cyclotron, an energy degrader and energy selection system (ESS), a transport beamline, a 360° rotation gantry and a beam delivery system. During the beam commissioning, the energy of 242 MeV proton beam was...
The LArge-scale Modular BGO Detection Array (LAMBDA), as its current prototype, consists of 49 modules of BGO crystals with the size of 60 × 60 × 120 mm3. It both has excellent full-energy peak efficiency and acceptable energy resolution for gamma-ray under several MeV. It could work for multiple nuclear physical experiments by using the total absorption gamma-ray spectroscopy. We carry it...
The Super Separator Spectrometer S3 [1] is being developed as part of the SPIRAL2 facility at GANIL. S3 has been designed to extend the capability of the facility to perform experiments with radioactive nuclei produced with extremely low cross sections, taking advantage of the very high intensity stable beams of the superconducting linear accelerator of SPIRAL2. The focus of S3 physics is the...
