Several projects and activities have been identified under the ISOLDE Improvement Program to enhance the capacity and capabilities of the ISOLDE facility. This presentation will provide a summary of the current status of these initiatives, along with their implementation timelines, taking into account the constraints and opportunities presented by the broader planning of CERN's global...
The ISOLDE facility at CERN is pivotal in the field of Radioactive Ion Beams (RIBs) research facilities. Renowned globally for its significant contributions, the facility now faces the challenge of aging infrastructure dating from the early 1990s. To address this, an ISOLDE Improvement Program (IIP) has been launched with the aim of consolidating the facility enhancing its operational...
The isotope separation on-line (ISOL) technique consists of on-line extraction, ionization, acceleration, and mass separation of radioisotopes produced in a target material irradiated by a high-energy particle beam. At CERN-ISOLDE, this technique is used to produce a broad variety of radioactive ion beams, enabling the study of exotic isotopes for research in nuclear physics, astrophysics,...
The Resonance Ionization Laser Ion Source (RILIS) is an essential technique to selectively supply radioactive ion beams to a plethora of experimental arrangements within the ISOLDE facility. Over the past year, RILIS has been involved in supplying laser ionized radioactive ion beams on 22 occasions, producing 60\% of the total beam supplied throughout the online and winter physics periods....
The antiProton Unstable Matter Annihilation (PUMA) experiment aims to probe the surface properties of stable and unstable isotopes by annihilating antiprotons with protons and neutrons on the surface of nuclei [1]. The pions generated in the annihilation events are identified and counted using a time-projection chamber and a scintillator trigger barrel surrounding the interaction region. While...
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The HIE-ISOLDE facility can accelerate a wide variety of radioactive ions, from 6He to 232Ra, up to collision energies close to 10 MeV/A. Present physics program covers a broad range of nuclear structure aspects such as shell-evolution and nuclear shape transitions, unbound systems, reaction dynamics, and astrophysical processes. The ISOLDE Superconducting Recoil Separator (ISRS) [1] aims...
The ISRS is a novel high-resolution recoil separator to be installed at the end of XT03 at HIE-ISOLDE. The design of the ISRS spectrometer exploits the different time-of-flight of the fragments produced in the reaction target to perform the particle separation. Those reaction fragments are injected into a particle storage system, composed of an array of iron-free superconducting multifunction...
Beta-delayed proton emission is a phenomenon that typically occurs for exotic neutron-deficient nuclei, when the proton binding energy in the beta-daughter nucleus is small and falls well within the Q-beta value. Nevertheless, the energy window for this process is open also for a few light, neutron-rich isotopes. Particularly interesting in this respect is the one-neutron halo nucleus 11Be,...
Alpha decay is known for more than a century, however a global microscopic description of this process has only been successfully developed recently by Mercier et al. [1]. Within the framework of covariant energy density functional, using a least action principle, the half-life of medium and heavy nuclei are in agreement within one order of magnitude with experimental value [2].
Moreover,...
Beta-delayed (β-n) neutron emitters are a focus of recent ISOLDE [Hei23, Xu23, Xu24], RIKEN [Yok19, Pho22, Yok23 ], and FRIB/NSCL [Cox24, Neu24] studies. The knowledge of the mechanism of β-delayed neutron emission and its consequences on the decay probabilities contribute to diverse areas of nuclear science, from nuclear reactors to astrophysical nucleosynthesis. Until recently, modeling the...
This talk will provide an overview of the CERN CLOUD experiment, which explores the formation of atmospheric aerosol particles from trace gas molecules, with a particular focus on the role of cosmic ray-generated ions. Atmospheric aerosols and their interactions with clouds are critical for regulating Earth's radiative balance, making this research essential for understanding anthropogenic...
DESIR, the low-energy facility of GANIL/SPIRAL2 is presently in its construction phase. It will provide users with high-quality exotic beams at energies up of 60 keV. The physics case is centred around three pillars: laser spectroscopy with the LUMIERE facility, ion trapping within DETRAP and the beta-decay experiments grouped in the BESTIOL collaboration. The experiments will address topics...
Presented on behalf of the BECOLA-RISE Collaboration.
Investigating the properties of atomic nuclei through measuring their influence upon bound electrons is a powerful and well-established approach in modern nuclear physics [Yan23]. By measuring the hyperfine structure and isotope shift in the atomic structure of radioactive nuclei, nuclear spins, magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole...
TRIGA-Trap is a high-precision, double Penning trap mass spectrometer located in the reactor hall of the TRIGA (Training, Research, Isotopes, General Atomic) research reactor in Mainz, Germany. Masses of actinides including $^{244}$Pu, $^{241}$Am, $^{243}$Am, $^{248}$Cm, and $^{249}$Cf have been measured using the Phase-Imaging Ion-Cyclotron-Resonance (PI-ICR) technique, achieving...
This contribution presents the results of an experimental test for the automatic tuning of a FEBIAD ion source and electrostatic beamline elements, performed at the OFFLINE 2 facility at ISOLDE. The algorithms were developed for the automatic tuning of the ISOL@MYRRHA facility at the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre and were adapted for testing at the OFFLINE 2 facility. The integration of...
Invisible diversity dimensions refer to aspects of diversity that are not immediately apparent or visible. With this interactive presentation from CERN's Diversity & Inclusion Programme Leader, we gain a better understanding of the invisible diversity dimensions that unite us and their relevance to our daily interactions in the workplace.
Bring your phones and some curiosity, you’ll need both
TRIUMF's Isotope Separator & ACcelerator (ISAC) facility provides beam to many pivotal nuclear astrophysics experiments. Among these is the Detector of Recoils And Gammas Of Nuclear reactions (DRAGON), which aims to explore the reaction rates of nuclear astrophysical processes by measuring resonances through radiative capture. For this, rare isotope beams delivered to DRAGON are manually tuned...
Accurate NMR shielding constants for arsenic (As) and antimony (Sb) in the AsF$_6^{-}$, AsO$_4^{3-}$, SbCl$_6^{-}$, and SbF$_6^{-}$ complexes were calculated using both non-relativistic coupled cluster methods and relativistic four-component density functional theory (DFT). The magnetic dipole moments of the $^{75}$As, $^{121}$Sb, and $^{123}$Sb nuclei were redetermined, leading to revised...
Laser resonance ionization spectroscopy in the ion source coupled directly to the isotope production target has been proven to be a highly sensitive tool for nuclear structure investigations on isotopes with low production and extraction yields [1]. While the efficiency of this technique is unrivalled, the spectral resolution is ultimately limited by Doppler broadening. At the ion source...
Theoretical models often invoke triaxial nuclear shapes to explain elusive collective phenomena, but such assumptions are usually difficult to confirm experimentally. The only direct measurements of the nuclear axial asymmetry $\gamma$ is based on rotational invariants of zero-coupled products of the electric-quadrupole (E2) operator, which generally require knowledge of a large number of E2...
Scandium (Sc) and Terbium (Tb) have gained significant interest in nuclear medicine due to their radioactive isotopes being suitable for cancer diagnostics and therapy, offering a promising avenue for theranostics. However, challenges persist in achieving high molar activity and radiochemical purity for medical applications. The physical isotope mass separation technique presents an interest...
Solid-state batteries (SSBs) are considered as a promising solution to address the safety issues and energy density limitations of conventional liquid batteries$^{1,2}$. Although there have been significant breakthroughs in SSB technology in recent years, several challenges still need to be addressed before they reach the commercial market. A key challenge is their slow charge and discharge...
This study aims to precisely measure the hyperfine structure (HFS) constant A, in neutron-rich potassium isotopes [1]. The in-beam laser-rf double-resonance spectroscopy [2] in a collinear geometry will be performed to obtain the relative precision of up to 10-4. This method, which has previously been applied only to stable isotopes, brings significantly enhanced precision through the use of...
One of the major scientific interests in the behaviour of He in diamond is due to the belief that the amount of $^{4}$He and the $^{3}$He /$^{4}$He ratio found within the material or its inclusions can be used to date terrestrial diamonds [1,2] or learn about the origins of meteoritic nanodiamonds [3]. Recently, He implantation has also been found to create colour centers in diamond that act...
Shape coexistence in the neutron-deficient lead region around N$\approx$104 has been discovered in different nuclei especially in the mercury isotopes, where a staggering effect was found between even- and odd-mass nuclei using charge radii measurements [1,2]. In addition the study of the even-even $^{182,184,186,188}$Hg isotopes via Coulomb excitation reactions showed a mixing of weakly...
It is still under intensive discussion, how magnetoelectric coupling actually occurs at the atomic scale in multiferroic (BiFeO3 or BFO). Nuclear solid-state techniques monitor local fields at the atomic scale. Using such an approach, we show that, contrary to our own expectation, ferroelectric and magnetic ordering in BFO decouple at the unit-cell level. Time differential perturbed angular...
In order to accommodate an innovative spectrometer within a limited experimental hall space (5x5 meters) for HIE-ISOLDE, a new lattice configuration for the ISRS ring is proposed. This lattice consists of ten combined-function canted cosine-theta (CCT) superconducting magnets, while different approaches are being considered for the injection and extraction subsystems. The challenging...
This poster will present preliminary analysis of the COLLAPS thallium run from 2023. It will cover the collinear laser spectroscopy technique and detail results from the analysis of this dataset. These results will contain preliminary information on the charge radius, electric dipole moments and magnetic quadrupole moments of the thallium isotopes of interest as well as physics discussion...
The Offline 2 mass separator [1] is part of the CERN-ISOLDE offline facilities [2], which are required to perform essential quality assurance and benchmarking tests of new target and ion source units prior to their installation and irradiation at CERN-ISODLE. The separator resembles the online CERN-ISOLDE frontend and includes similar services such as the beam instrumentation, the gas mixing...
Excited states of $^{130}$Sn, the even-even neighbour of doubly-magic $^{132}$Sn, were populated through safe Coulomb excitation using the recently commissioned, highly efficient MINIBALL array. The $^{130}$Sn ions were accelerated to 4.4 MeV/u at the HIE-ISOLDE accelerator and collided with a $^{206}$Pb target. Deexciting $\gamma$ rays from the excited states of both the target and projectile...
The ISOLDE Superconducting Fragment Separator (ISRS) is composed of a set of multifunction CCT superconducting magnets (MAGDEM) [1, 2], including both dipole and quadrupole functions [3]. A fully operational ion test bench (IONTB) is being developed to test the performance of the MAGDEM units under a realistic in-beam scenario. Despite being limited to a single MAGDEM unit, IONTB can provide...
The ISOLDE Superconducting Fragment Separator (ISRS) [1, 2] is an innovative a high-resolution spectrometer foreseen to study the structure and dynamics of radioactive nuclei at HIE-ISOLDE. The sicentific program requires the use of a variety of nuclear reactions including Coulomb breakup/dissociation, fusion-evaporation, and transfer reactions in direct and inverse kinematics. Part of the...
Naturally layered perovskites have become an impressive playground for the birth of novel multifunctional devices due to its great electronic tunability aiming at innovative alternatives for improved energy storage devices and electronics. In particular, the search for room temperature ferroelectrics (FE) and magneto electrics has seen a boost in research focused on these structures. However,...
The design of the ISOLDE Superconducting Fragment Separator (ISRS) [1] is based on a compact particle storage ring that uses a FFAG (Fixed Field Alternating Gradient) beam transport and a set of nested multifunction superconducting magnets (MAGDEM) [2]. Each MAGDEM unit include both dipole and quadrupole functions using a Canted Cosine Theta type (CCT) design, whose winding is inclined with...
β-detected Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (β-NMR) is a method for measuring the nuclear magnetic moment of unstable nuclei. It allows investigations of short-lived isotopes with a sensitivity inaccessible to conventional NMR. This increased sensitivity is gained by combining hyperpolarization of the nuclear spin generated through optical pumping, and an efficient detection exploiting the asymmetry...
β-decay spectroscopy is a powerful tool for studying complex phenomena emerging in exotic neutron-rich nuclei, such as β-delayed neutron emission [1-3]. Thanks to the high angular momentum selectivity of the process, β-decay offers unique access to excited states in daughter nuclei having configurations similar to the decaying precursors.
β-decay spectroscopy becomes an even more powerful...
At CERN-ISOLDE, over a thousand radioactive ion beams (RIBs) are generated from over 70 distinct types of target materials using the Isotope Separation Online Method (ISOL). The target material is bombarded with a high-energy proton beam (around 1.4 GeV) and undergoes nuclear reactions that lead to the production and release of artificially created isotopes, which are then ionised and...
The ISOLDE Superconducting Recoil Separator (ISRS) at CERN [1-3] is a high-resolution spectrometer for analysing the heavy fragments produced in reactions induced by ISOLDE's exotic beams. ISRS design is based on a compact FFAG particle storage ring composed of short straight multifunction superconducting magnets able to accommodate a wide range of momentum and energy spread. The team has...
In the pursuit of novel and highly efficient multiferroic materials, significant exploration has unfolded during the last decades. These materials, characterized by their ability to exhibit a myriad of intriguing phenomena, hold promise in enabling the electrical manipulation of magnetic degrees of freedom, thus offering numerous potential applications. Our research group focuses on the...
One of the upcoming upgrades of VITO beamline is a creation of a new end station for laser-rf double resonance spectroscopy to provide a strongly improved precision in determining the hyperfine structure (HFS) of unstable nuclei. Combined with high-precision measurements of nuclear magnetic moments using liquid beta-NMR at VITO, the new technique will allow determining the hyperfine anomaly in...
Isotope shift measurements and the King plot are an established method to determine the nuclear charge radius [1]. Nonlinear effects in King plots have recently gained additional interest as probes for higher-order nuclear deformation and beyond-standard-model physics [2]. Methods like the generalized King plot allow to extract multiple effects such as higher-order nuclear deformation and...
The neutron rich isotopes near the $Z=82$ and $N=126$ are an area of active research as they display a range of exotic nuclear properties including octupole deformation.
Previously the long lived (>10 minutes) neutron rich isotopes $^{219,220}$Po have not been properly investigated as their expected half-lives are too long for fragmentation facilities and until the development of the...
Pyrophoric metal carbides such as uranium carbides (UCx), thorium carbides (ThCx) and lanthanum carbides (LaCx) are used as target materials in CERN-ISOLDE to produce radioisotopes due to their high cross-section, thermal stability and porous structure. After irradiating these materials by proton beams, they become pyrophoric radioactive waste and require controlled oxidation prior to disposal...
At CERN-ISOLDE, over a thousand radioactive ion beams (RIBs) are produced from over 70 different types of target materials through the isotope separation online method (ISOL). The material is hit with a 1.4 GeV proton beam and undergoes nuclear reactions leading to the production and extraction of artificially created isotopes which are then ionized and extracted as ion beams.[1]
The design...
ISOLDE is a world-leading facility for radioactive ion beam (RIB) research using the Isotope Separation Online (ISOL) method, capable of producing over 1300 isotopes of more than 70 elements. It supports a diverse range of experiments in nuclear physics, nuclear astrophysics, laser physics, solid-state physics, and medical applications, with beam energies from 30 keV to 10 MeV/u. Serving...
Terbium-149 was proposed as an attractive candidate for Targeted Alpha Therapy (TAT) in the late 1990’s [1], due to its favourable physical decay properties (T1/2 = 4.1 h, Eα = 3.97 MeV, 17%; Eβ+ mean = 720 keV, 7%) [2]. Preclinical studies have demonstrated its therapeutic potential [3-5], however, it was also demonstrated that it can be used for positron emission tomography (PET) [4]. The ...
One main objective of the ISRS project is to investigate residual nuclei production to enhance the ISRS performance and, thereby, guide more precise experimental designs for future research. The analysis in this area has been initiated using different computational codes, namely EMPIRE and PACE4 [1-2]. Our initial examination involves reactions on a CD$_2$ target induced by a neutron-rich...
RIALTO, the Resonant Ionization Laser Ion Source at the ALTO (Accélérateur Linéaire et Tandem d'Orsay) facility, uses a multi-step laser excitation process to produce pure ion beams through the resonance ionization technique. The laser laboratory is equipped with three high-power Nd:YAG operating at 10 kHz and pumping three dye lasers; these lasers are coupled with BBO doubling units and one...
Breakup reactions involving loosely bound stable nuclei with prominent cluster structures like $^{6,7}$Li have been widely studied [1-3]. Similar studies on radioactive nuclei are comparatively lesser in number due to issues of availability and beam intensities. Reaction studies of the $^7$Be nucleus on $^{12}$C target reported very few coincidence events from breakup [4]. Similar results were...
For nuclei with $N$ around 50, several pieces of evidence supporting shape coexistence close to $^{78}$Ni have been found. In particular, the ∼940-keV 1/2$^{+}$ isomeric state in $^{79}$Zn has been interpreted as an intruder state, related to neutron excitations across N=50. Laser-spectroscopy measurements found a large isomeric shift for this state with respect to the $^{79}$Zn 9/2$^{+}$...
The quadrupole moment of the 2+1 state in 110Sn has been determined, along with a more precise determination of the reduced transition probability B(E2;2+1 -> 0+1). The measurement results were obtained through a safe Coulomb excitation experiment at HIE-ISOLDE, using the Miniball setup. Preliminary results yield...
The formation of nuclear quadrupole collectivity and the contributions of valence protons and neutrons to it is a vivid research field in contemporary nuclear structure physics, including activities at the ISOLDE facility. The excited proton and neutron configurations can couple to predominantly isoscalar and isovector excitations of the nuclear valence shell. The latter are addressed as...
I intend to present the preliminary results from the IS708 experiment, which plans to use both ISS and Miniball to study octupole collectivity in $^{146}$Ce using the complementary techniques of inelastic scattering and Coulomb excitation, respectively. The ISS experiment will use the Liverpool silicon array to measure the excited 2+ and 3- states populated in a (d,d’) reaction. The solenoidal...
The odd-odd bismuth isotopes ($Z$ = 83) and their $\beta$-decay polonium daughters $(Z\,=\,84)$ are excellent subjects for nuclear structure studies. With only one and two protons, respectively, above the closed shell $Z$ = 82, they provide an outstanding testing ground for shell-model calculations, and in the case of polonium isotopes, also for the seniority scheme. Moreover, both isotopic...
The aim of this talk is to explore the capabilities of the new CAEN V2730 digitizer, with particular emphasis on the customizable algorithms enabled by the SciCompiler environment. The CAEN V2730 is a state-of-the-art 32-channel, 14-bit, 500 MS/s digitizer designed for high-performance data acquisition and processing, featuring advanced customization options that allow users to tailor its...
Understanding the structure-property correlation in molecular materials is crucial for predicting the mechanical, electrical and optical properties of bulk materials. Our primary goal is to elucidate how molecules self-assemble in the crystalline state and to identify which intermolecular interactions determine specific physical properties. Among many possibilities, quantum crystallography...
The nature of ferromagnetism in multiferroic bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3 or BFO) nanoparticles is still the subject of intense debate. The Time Differential Perturbed Angular Correlation (TDPAC) technique monitors local fields at the atomic scale without altering the structure of the materials under investigation. Using such an approach, we investigate that BFO nanoparticles exhibit strong...
The current study focuses on the temperature-dependent structural modulation of the local environment of M2+ ions in vanadium bronzes MxV2O5 and vanadates xMnO-V2O5. The growing interest in V2O5-based materials is in view of their potential for cathodes in M ion batteries, as highlighted in recent research [1]. Although the (de)intercalation mechanism of M ions is considered fundamental to...
The γ-γ Perturbed Angular Correlation (PAC) spectroscopy's unique ability to probe atomic-scale phenomena makes it an exciting technique for studying structural, magnetic, and orbital phase transitions in solid-state physics, as well as investigating the intrinsic properties of radioactive nuclei. [1-3]
Historically, ISOLDE's PAC setups relied on aging analog equipment, some over 30 years...
Neutron induced reactions play a key role in stellar nucleosynthesis processes. In particular, neutron reaction cross sections are an important input to predict abundances produced by the slow neutron capture process, responsible for about half of the elemental abundances heavier than iron. Also for some lighter mass isotopes, neutron induced reactions may play a crucial role, for example for...
The pattern of single-particle excitations outside of 132Sn has held a long-standing fascination in the field, being the heaviest short-lived doubly magic nucleus. For over three decades, measurements to explore these excitations have been used as examples to motivate the development of facilities and instrumentation in long-range planning exercises. In a recent experiment at CERN's...
As part of IS659 a beam of 8He was taken to IDS in May 2022. Here a setup was prepared with double sided silicon strip detectors (DSSDs), plastic detectors with high timing resolution for beta detection, the IDS HPGe Clover array and the IDS neutron detector array (INDiE). With an ADC trace captured for each event in the beta and INDiE detectors, different timing algorithms have been explored...
Exciting new opportunities for beta-decay experiments have emerged at the ISOLDE facility with the recently developed spectroscopy station called DeVITO [1]. The novelty of the new setup lies in its integration with the VITO beamline [2] for laser-polarisation of radioactive beams, enabling spectroscopy measurements with spin-oriented nuclei that emit radiation anisotropically. The ability to...
Collinear Laser Spectroscopy (CLS) is a powerful tool for investigating nuclear ground state properties such as spin, electromagnetic moments, and the mean-square nuclear charge radius of exotic nuclei [1-3]. Phenomena, like the emergence of new magic numbers and the discovery of proton-emitting nuclei, occur far from stability, requiring researchers to push the limits of their techniques. In...
The hyperfine anomaly in atomic structure is sensitive to both the composition and radial distribution of nuclear magnetisation. Although this observable has been known of and measured since the 1950’s, precise measurements have been sporadic and largely limited to stable nuclei [1]. In the last few years, developments in the $\beta$-NMR technique have provided a level of precision at which...
The objective of the WISArD experiment is to test the existence of new physics in the weak interaction sector of the Standard Model of particle physics using beta decay. The angular correlation parameter a and the Fierz interference term b, which characterize beta decay, are sensitive to the existence of exotic scalar or tensor currents. These currents are not included in the description of...
The four fundamental interactions and their symmetries, the fundamental constants as well as the properties of elementary particles like masses and moments, determine the basic structure of the universe and are the basis for our so well tested Standard Model (SM) of physics. Performing stringent tests on these interactions and symmetries in extreme conditions at lowest energies and with...
Due to its low excitation energy around 8.3 eV, the unique $^{229}$Th isomer is the ideal candidate for developing a nuclear clock [1]. Such a clock would be particularly suited for fundamental physics studies [1]. In the past, measuring the isomer's radiative decay from a large-bandgap crystal with $^{229\text{m}}$Th embedded, has proven difficult: the commonly used population of the isomer...
In this contribution, the nuclear Density Functional Theory (DFT) will be briefly introduced and confronted with other nuclear structure models. This introduction will be tailored for a general audience. Some state-of-the-art Energy Density Functionals (EDFs), as well as their predictive power and their current limitations, will be discussed.
It will be emphasised that one of the main...
The existence of an uncompensated magnetic order in epitaxial thin films of multiferroic bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3 or BFO) is still the subject of intense debate. The Time Differential Perturbed Angular Correlation (TDPAC) technique monitors local fields at the atomic scale without altering the structure of the investigated materials. Using such an approach, we observed that BFO epitaxial thin...
Colour centers based on group-IV impurities (SiV, GeV, SnV, and PbV) in diamond are intensively investigated in the context of quantum nanophotonic applications, with some of their attractive properties stemming from the inversion symmetry of their split-vacancy configuration and their high Debye-Waller factor. Whereas a significant amount of research has been devoted to study their...
Tantalum targets can be used to produce lanthanide beams but in order to extract species with slow release times, such as terbium, the targets have to be pushed to extreme temperatures. This is especially true when it comes to medical isotope production that requires collections in the order of GBq/day of radionuclides with a minimum half-life of several hours. One way to volatilise the more...
The use of radionuclides for cancer diagnostics and therapy is extensively recognized and employed across various techniques. The effectiveness of these techniques, along with the minimisation of the doses to healthy tissue in both, therapy and diagnostics, hinges on several factors, one of which is the decay properties of the specific radionuclide used. Specifically, the types of particles,...
The validity of the Brink-Axel hypothesis is inferred from the resembling behaviour of giant dipole resonances built on ground and excited states, which present similar energy systematics. Together with previous work, this assigns giant dipole resonances as spectroscopic probes or “nuclear thermometers” to explore the cooling of the extremely hot ejecta gas produced in neutron-star mergers,...
For the last decade, the Collinear Resonance Ionization Spectropscopy (CRIS) experiment at ISOLDE has been focussing on performing laser spectroscopy for hyperfine structure studies of exotic nuclei across the nuclear chart. The CRIS technique allows to study atomic, nuclear and molecular properties and stands out with its combination of high-resolution measurements along a high sensitivity...
The Miniball gamma-ray spectrometer at ISOLDE-CERN is employed to investigate both collective and single-particle nuclear properties of radioactive isotopes. The spectrometer comprises eight assemblies of three high-purity germanium detectors, and is complemented with ancillary silicon detectors for particle detection. It exploits the re-accelerated radioactive ion beams provided by the...
The phenomenon of shell closures corresponding to increased stability of nuclei at magic numbers of protons or neutrons (2, 8, 20, 50, etc.) is a key feature of the nuclear shell model. However, conventional shell closures can disappear for radioactive nuclei in several key regions of the nuclear chart known as “islands of inversion.” These islands provide ideal testing grounds for modern...
High-precision mass measurements of radioactive ions are used to determine nuclear binding energies, which reflect all forces acting in the nucleus and are used to study among others nuclear structure, nuclear astrophysics and weak interaction.
For this, the ISOLTRAP mass spectrometer [1] uses various ion traps, including a tandem Penning-trap system and a multi-reflection time-of-flight...
Neutron deficient antimony isotopes provide an excellent study of nuclear structure around the doubly magic $^{100}$Sn (N=Z=50). With a single valence proton above the Z=50 Sn, Sb can be used as a rigorous test of the single particle shell model around this closed shell. Measuring the neutron deficient Sb isotopes allows for investigation into the robustness of the magic Z=50 core. Significant...
