Radioactive Ion Beam Production at the HRIBF

Radioactive ion beams are produced at the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility (HRIBF) using the ISOL (Isotope Separation On-Line) technique where the atoms are produced in a thick target, transported to an ion source, ionized, and extracted from the ion source to form an ion beam. These radioactive ion beams are then accelerated to energies of a few MeV per nucleon and delivered to experimental stations for use in nuclear physics and astrophysics studies. Recently developed radioactive ion beams include ²⁵Al from a SiC target and ³⁴Cl froma CeS target. In addition, highly-purified beams of neutron-rich Ge, Sn, Br, and I isotopes from a uranium carbide target are delivered to experiments, for example, 2×10⁵ ions per second of ⁸⁰Ge (95% pure) and 6 × 10⁵ ions per second of ¹³⁰Sn (>99% pure) at energies up to 3 MeV per nucleon. Recently completed experiments using these radioactive ion beams include Coulomb excitation of even-even Te isotopes and even-even Sn isotopes, sub-barrier fusion with a beam of ¹³²Sn, measurements of astrophysically important proton capture cross-sections using ^17,18F beams, and the observation of two-proton emission from ¹⁸Ne using a ¹⁷F beam.