FATIMA (FAst TIMing Array) [1] is the fast-timing detector system for measurements of nuclear lifetimes at the DESPEC (DEcay SPECtroscopy) station [2] of the radioactive beam facility GSI. The array is composed of 36 LaBr$_3$(Ce) scintillator detectors coupled to photomultiplier tubes and the GSI-developed fast-timing data acquisition system TAMEX, making possible lifetime measurements on the...
The FAst TIMing Array (FATIMA) detector system is a key component of the DEcay SPECtroscopy (DESPEC) experiment at the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR). FATIMA currently comprises 36 cylindrical 1.5×2" LaBr3(Ce) detectors, designed for precise measurements of mean lifetimes in the picosecond-to-nanosecond range [1]. These sensitive measurements use the exceptional timing...
ILL operates two user instruments that enable fast timing measurements with nuclides that are either neutron-rich or close to stability.
The LOHENGRIN fission fragment recoil separator provides mass- and energy separated beams of fission products. In particular short-lived (microsecond) isomers or beams of refractory elements that are less suited for ISOL facilities are of interest for decay...
Regions near closed shells in areas of the nuclear chart far from stability are very interesting from the point of view of nuclear structure, since they provide an ideal testing ground to investigate the competition between single particle degrees of freedom and collective effects from many nucleons. This is the case for nuclei near the doubly-magic $^{78}$Ni nucleus, with Z = 28 and N = 50...
The region around N≈60 with Z≤40 has generated considerable interest as it features the most abrupt shape transition known to date in the nuclear chart, when crossing from N=58 to N=60 [1]. This transition is closely linked to shape coexistence [2], a phenomenon where two or more states with different intrinsic shapes coexist within the same nucleus at low excitation energy and within a narrow...
Since N=56 is one of the so-called "octupole magic numbers", $^{96}\mathrm{Zr}$ is expected to show a strong octupole collectivity. According to several experiments carried out about 30 years ago to determine the $B(E3; 0^{+}_1 \rightarrow 3^{-}_1 )$ value, it is one of the largest in the entire nuclear chart. However, the results differ by $30\%$. We therefore carried out an experiment at ILL...
The EAGLE array (European Array for Gamma Levels Evaluations) [1] is a multi-configuration detector set-up for in-beam nuclear spectroscopy studies at the Heavy Ion Laboratory (HIL) of the University of Warsaw. It can accommodate up to 30 Compton-suppressed HPGe detectors.
Building on this foundation, a new campaign, FLASH (Fast-Timing LaBr$_3$ Array for Spectroscopy at HIL), is planned...
iThemba LABS has pioneered a mobile gamma-ray detection unit[1] which allows a user to operate in the field and chart the location, strength \ and energy of gamma radiation. The system incorporates a sensitive \ scintillation detector[2] typically used for accelerator-based \ spectroscopy at the SSC laboratory and was integrated into a backpack \ incorporating a fast 125 MHz digitiser for...
Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a powerful imaging technique that enables the study of physiological and molecular processes in vivo. The introduction of Time-of-Flight PET (TOF-PET) has driven significant improvement on image quality by enhancing signal-to-noise ratio and enabling potential dose reduction. This talk will explore the latest developments in detector technology, signal...
Accurate timing characterization of detected radiation events in Positron Emission Tomography (PET) provides Time-of-flight (TOF) information for detected coincidences, which improves the signal-to-noise ratio of the reconstructed images. In this work, we propose a method to train machine learning (ML) models to assign accurate timestamps to events measured in radiation detectors making use of...
This work investigates building a two-stage Compton camera in terms of energy resolution, efficiency, fast timing, and geometrical configuration for beam range monitoring in hadron therapy. While development of a clinical imaging device has made tremendous strides, there are challenges to be addressed.
A Compton camera prototype is investigated, assessing the optimal geometrical configuration...
For certain nuclei long-range octupole-octupole residual interactions can cause a reflection-asymmetric (pear) shape to occur. This octupole deformation, combined with quadrupole deformation, causes a separation between the centre of mass and centre of charge in the nucleus, resulting in a significant electric dipole (E1) moment. This effect enhances the strength of the E1 and electric...
Polonium isotopes having two protons above the shell closure at $Z = 82$ demonstrate a wide variety of high-spin isomeric states across the whole chain.
The structure of neutron-deficient isotopes up to $^{210}$Po ($N = 126$) is well established thanks to being easily produced through different methods, as opposed to their neutron-rich counterparts for which not much information is currently...
In some applications the transmission detectors are required to follow the path of radiation or to confirm that a particle entered a given volume. Moreover, such detectors should provide as much as possible information about the interacting radiation (energy deposited, time of interaction) and at the same time, change the particle state (direction, energy) as little as possible. We proposed a...
In the framework of the HISTARS (HIE-ISOLDE Timing Array for Reaction Studies) project at ISOLDE/CERN, it is planned to install a gamma-ray array specifically designed for fast-timing measurements of nuclear states populated in reactions. State-of-the-art inorganic scintillators, such as LaBr$_3$(Ce) [Vedia2015,Vedia2017,Fraile2020] or CeBr$_3$ [Picado2017], are commonly used due to their...
Development of a clover-like LaBr3(Ce) detector module
S. Dutta, C. Cassells, B.S. Nara Singh, M. Bowry, D. O’Donnell, M. Scheck, J.F. Smith
University of the West of Scotland, UK
P. Joshi, J. Bordes, J.R. Brown, D.G. Jenkins
University of York, York, UK
O. Tengblad, J.A. Briz, M.J.G. Borge
Instituto de Estructura de la Materia, CSIC,Spain
This work explores the application of...
The enhancement of time response in scintillator-based gamma-ray detectors is crucial for applications such as Time-of-Flight Positron Emission Tomography (TOF-PET) and experimental nuclear and particle physics. One promising approach to achieve this improvement is by utilizing Cherenkov radiation, which is emitted nearly instantaneously compared to traditional scintillation light. However, a...
The isotopic chains close to the magic proton number $Z = 50$ have motivated an extensive experimental and theoretical effort during the last decades. Their simple structure provides an excellent ground to study shell-evolution along the chain, as well as to understand the interplay between single particles and collective degrees of freedom. The systematic study of their excited structure, and...
The semi-magic $^{120}_{50}$Sn$_{70}$ lies in the neutron mid-shell among the other stable Sn isotopes, where shape coexistence was observed with the signature of deformed bands built on excited $0^+$ states intruding into the yrast band that is built on the spherical ground state. However, the lifetime of the excited $0^+_3$ state only has a lower limit of 6 ps in the literature, which...
Shell evolution around magic and double-magic numbers, such as $^{68}$Ni ($N=40$) and $^{78}$Ni ($N=50$), has always attracted many theoretical and experimental investigations. For this purpose, the experimentalists have been studying a set of observables, as i.e. the first excited 2$^{+}$ state energy and the transition probability between the first 2$^{+}$ states and the ground state,...
The fast and high efficiency CeBr$_3$ scintillators detectors of the CeBr$_3$ Array (CeBrA) located at the John D. Fox Superconducting Linear Accelerator Laboratory at Florida State University (FSU) are designed for fast-timing spectroscopy in nuclear structure studies. This work presents the fast-timing capabilities of CeBrA in three key experimental configurations: $\gamma$-$\gamma$...
The search for the detection of neutrinoless double-beta (0νββ) decay is one of the main experimental challenges in particle and nuclear physics. Its measurement has the potential to demonstrate that neutrinos are their own antiparticles, reveal matter-antimatter asymmetry, and provide insights into absolute neutrino mass. Despite extensive experimental efforts using various isotopes, 0νββ...
