A novel way of doing decay spectroscopy at a radioactive ion beam facility

A technique to enhance the purity of accelerated radioactive ion beams for decay studies is presented. The technique requires a 3MeV/nucleon beam and a transmission ionization chamber. The gas pressure in the multi-anode ionization chamber is adjusted so that high-Z components of the beam are ranged out in the gas transmitting the more exotic, low-Z components to the measuring station. Initial tests with a radioactive ¹²⁰Ag and ¹²⁰In mixed beam indicate at least a factor of 5 relative enhancement of the ¹²⁰Ag decay transitions.