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A laser ablation material injection system has been developed at the ATLAS electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source for use in accelerator mass spectrometry experiments. Beam production with laser ablation initially suffered from instabilities due to fluctuations in laser energy and cratering on the sample surface by the laser. However, these instabilities were rectified by applying feedback correction for the laser energy and rastering the laser across the sample surface. An initial experiment successfully produced and accelerated low intensity actinide beams with up to 1000 counts per second. With continued development, laser ablation shows promise as an alternative material injection scheme for ECR ion sources and may help substantially reduce cross talk in the source.

A project to measure neutron capture cross sections of a number of actinides in a reactor environment by Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) at the ATLAS facility of Argonne National Laboratory is underway. This project will require the precise and accurate measurement of produced actinide isotopes in many (>30) samples irradiated in the Advanced Test Reactor at Idaho National Laboratory with neutron fluxes having different energy distributions. The AMS technique at ATLAS is based on production of highly-charged positive ions in an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source followed by acceleration in the ATLAS linac and mass-to-charge ( m / q ) measurement at the focus of the Fragment Mass Analyzer. Laser ablation was selected as the method of feeding the actinide material into the ion source because we expect it will have higher efficiency and lower chamber contamination than either the oven or sputtering techniques, because of a much narrower angular distribution of emitted material. In addition, a new multi-sample holder/changer to allow quick change between samples and a computer-controlled routine allowing fast tuning of the accelerator for different beams, are being developed. An initial test run studying backgrounds, detector response, and accelerator scaling repeatability was conducted in December 2010. The project design, schedule, and results of the initial test run to study backgrounds are discussed.

Research efforts ranging from studies of solid helium to searches for a neutron electric dipole moment require isotopically purified helium with a ratio of ^3He to ^4He at levels below that which can be measured using traditional mass spectroscopy techniques. We demonstrate an approach to such a measurement using accelerator mass spectroscopy, reaching the 10^(−14) level of sensitivity, several orders of magnitude more sensitive than other techniques. Measurements of ^3He/^4He in samples relevant to the measurement of the neutron lifetime indicate the need for substantial corrections. We also argue that there is a clear path forward to sensitivity increases of at least another order of magnitude.

The first application of 39Ar Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) at the ATLAS facility of Argonne National Laboratory was to date ocean water samples relevant to oceanographic studies using the gas-filled magnet technique to separate the 39K–39Ar isobars. In particular the use of a quartz liner in the plasma chamber of the electron cyclotron resonance ion source enabled a 39K reduction of a factor ∼130 compared to previous runs without liners, and allowed us to reach a detection sensitivity of 39Ar/Ar = 4 × 10−17. In order to improve this sensitivity and allow the measurement of lower ratios, higher ion source currents and a lower overall 39K background are necessary. This paper summarizes our efforts to investigate new methods combining low level potassium cleaning techniques with the use of ultra-pure aluminum liners in the plasma chamber of the ion source. The aim of the study was to improve by 1–2 orders of magnitude the 39Ar detection sensitivity required in the selection of ultra-pure materials for detectors used in weakly interacting massive particle dark matter searches.

The Californium Rare Ion Breeder Upgrade (CARIBU) to the ATLAS superconducting linac facility is currently being commissioned. It provides low-energy and re-accelerated beams of neutron-rich isotopes obtained from 252Cf fission. The fission products from a 252Cf source are stopped in a large high-intensity gas catcher, thermalized and extracted through an RFQ cooler, accelerated to 50 kV and mass separated in a high-resolution separator before being sent to either an ECR charge breeder for post-acceleration through the ATLAS linac or to a low-energy experimental area. This approach gives access to beams of very neutron-rich isotopes, many of which have not been available at low or Coulomb barrier energies previously. These beams provide unique opportunities for measurements along the r-process path. To take advantage of these unique possibility, the reaccelerated beams from CARIBU will be made available at the experimental stations of ATLAS to serve equipment such as Gammasphere, HELIOS and the reaction spectrometers. In addition, the Canadian Penning Trap (CPT) mass spectrometer has been moved to the CARIBU low-energy experimental area and a new injection line has been built. The new injection line consists of a RFQ buncher sitting on a 50 kV high-voltage platform that will accumulate the mass separated 50 kV radioactive beams, cool and extract them as a pulsed beam of 3 keV. This beam can be sent either to a tape station for diagnostics and tuning, or a cryogenic linear trap for preparation before transfer to the high-precision Penning trap where the mass measurements will take place. Initial CARIBU commissioning is proceeding with a 2 mCi source that will be replaced by a 100 mCi source as the commissioning proceeds. Final operation will use a 1 Ci source and attain yield in excess of 107 ions/sec for the most intense beams at low energy, an order of magnitude less for reaccelerated beams.

An Electron Beam Ion Source Charge Breeder (EBIS-CB) has been developed at Argonne National Laboratory as part of the californium rare ion breeder upgrade. For the past year, the EBIS-CB has been undergoing commissioning as part of the ATLAS accelerator complex. It has delivered both stable and radioactive beams with A/Q6, breeding times30 ms, low background contamination, and charge breeding efficiencies18% into a single charge state. The operation of this device, challenges during the commissioning phase, and future improvements will be discussed.

Gas catchers allow the transformation of radioactive recoils from various sources into a good optical quality low-energy radioactive beam that is then available for experiments at low-energy or for further acceleration. The CARIBU project uses such a large gas catcher to create beams of neutron-rich isotopes from a Californium source for post-acceleration through the ATLAS superconducting linac to open new research opportunities for nuclear structure physics and astrophysics. The RF gas catcher developed at Argonne has now demonstrated operation at the high intensity required for this application.

The Californium Rare Ion Breeder Upgrade (CARIBU) for the ATLAS facility is under construction. The facility will use 252Cf fission fragments thermalized and collected into a low-energy particle beam by a helium gas catcher. In order to reaccelerate these beams an existing ATLAS ECR ion source is being reconfigured as a charge breeder source. A 1Ci 252Cf source will provide sufficient yield to deliver beams of up to ∼106 far-from-stability ions per second on target. The facility design, expected performance and the project status will be presented in this paper.

The r-process nuclide 244Pu (t1/2 = 80.8 Myr) was extant in the Early Solar System and is presently considered as extinct. However, fresh 244Pu produced in the Galaxy, may reach the Solar System and Earth through influx of interstellar dust or as direct ejecta from supernovae. Detection of such traces requires high sensitivity, discrimination power and efficiency. Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS), despite low efficiency, is the method of choice. We report on the successful detection of 244Pu by AMS, using highly-charged positive ions produced in an Electron Cyclotron Resonance (ECR) ion source and accelerated with the superconducting heavy-ion linear accelerator ATLAS at Argonne National Laboratory. 244Pu34+,35+,36+ ions with a final energy of 0.7 MeV/u were dispersed in m/q using the Argonne Fragment Mass Analyzer (FMA) and are well discriminated from parasitic ions. A count rate of 0.7 244Pu counts/min was observed for a sample containing 2.7 × 108 244Pu atoms/mg. The technique described here is presently used, with improved setup and accelerator conditions, for the measurement of neutron capture cross sections in the actinide region.

Initial experiments at the ATLAS facility [Nucl. Instr. and Meth. B 92 (1994) 241] resulted in a clear detection of cosmogenic Ar-39 signal at the natural level. The present paper summarizes the recent developments of Ar-39 AMS measurements at ATLAS: the use of an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) positive ion source equipped with a special quartz liner to reduce K-39 background, the development of a gas handling system for small volume argon samples, the acceleration of Ar-39(8+) ions to 232 MeV, and the final separation of Ar-39 from K-39 in a gas-filled spectrograph. The first successful AXIS measurements of Ar-39 in ocean water samples from the Southern Atlantic ventilation experiment (SAVE) are reported. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Two techniques for the discrete injection of material into an Electron Cyclotron Resonance ion source (ECRIS) have been developed for the purpose of measuring the ionization and confinement times of ion species. Previously only solid materials in conjunction with a pulsed laser were used in these studies due to the discrete material introduction produced by this configuration. The first method replaces the pulsed laser with a fast high voltage pulse applied to a sputter sample. The high voltage pulse has a rise time of 100 ns, fall time of 80.0 μs, and variable pulse duration. The second method utilizes a fast-pulsed gas valve capable of producing a gas pulse 160 μs in width. These pulse widths are well below the ionization times of the lower charge states and thus allows for time measurements to be made of all charge states. Both of these techniques can be employed to study the effects of rf power, coil configuration, biased disk, and gas mixing on ionization and confinement times. Rise times for neon, argon, and gold will be presented.

An Electron Beam Ion Source Charge Breeder (EBIS-CB) has been developed at Argonne to breed radioactive beams from the CAlifornium Rare Isotope Breeder Upgrade (CARIBU) facility at Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System (ATLAS). The EBIS-CB will replace the existing ECR charge breeder to increase the intensity and significantly improve the purity of reaccelerated radioactive ion beams. The CARIBU EBIS-CB has been successfully commissioned offline with an external singly charged cesium ion source. The performance of the EBIS fully meets the specifications to breed rare isotope beams delivered from CARIBU. The EBIS is being relocated and integrated into ATLAS and CARIBU. A long electrostatic beam transport system including two 180° bends in the vertical plane has been designed. The commissioning of the EBIS and the beam transport system in their permanent location will start at the end of this year.

The extreme sensitivity and discrimination power of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) allows for the search and the detection of rare nuclides either in natural samples or produced in the laboratory. At Argonne National Laboratory, we are developing an AMS setup aimed in particular at the detection of medium and heavy nuclides, relying on the high ion energy achievable with the ATLAS superconducting linear accelerator and on gas-filled magnet isobaric separation. The setup was recently used for the detection of the 146Sm p-process nuclide and for a new determination of the 146Sm half-life (68.7 My). AMS plays an important role in the measurement of stellar nuclear reaction cross sections by the activation method, extending thus the technique to the study of production of long-lived radionuclides. Preliminary measurements of the 147Sm(γ,n)146Sm are described. A measurement of the 142Nd(α,γ)146Sm and 142Nd(α,n)145Sm reactions is in preparation. A new laser-ablation method for the feeding of the Electron Cyclotron Resonance (ECR) ion source is described.

Recently, the Californium Rare Isotope Breeder Upgrade (CARIBU) to the Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System (ATLAS) was commissioned and became available for production of rare isotopes. Currently, an electron cyclotron resonance ion source is used as a charge breeder for CARIBU beams. To further increase the intensity and improve the purity of neutron-rich ion beams accelerated by ATLAS, we are developing a high-efficiency charge breeder for CARIBU based on an electron beam ion source (EBIS). The CARIBU EBIS charge breeder will utilize the state-of-the-art EBIS technology recently developed at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). The electron beam current density in the CARIBU EBIS trap will be significantly higher than that in existing operational charge-state breeders based on the EBIS concept. The design of the CARIBU EBIS charge breeder is nearly complete. Long-lead components of the EBIS such as a 6-T superconducting solenoid and an electron gun have been ordered with the delivery schedule in the fall of 2011. Measurements of expected breeding efficiency using the BNL Test EBIS have been performed using a Cs(+) surface ionization ion source for external injection in pulsed mode. In these experiments we have achieved ∼70% injection∕extraction efficiency and breeding efficiency into the most abundant charge state of ∼17%.

The Californium Rare Ion Breeder Upgrade (CARIBU) of the Argonne National Laboratory ATLAS facility will provide low-energy and reaccelerated neutron-rich radioactive beams for the nuclear physics program. A 70 mCi (252)Cf source produces fission fragments which are thermalized and collected by a helium gas catcher into a low-energy particle beam with a charge of 1+ or 2+. An electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source functions as a charge breeder in order to raise the ion charge sufficiently for acceleration in the ATLAS linac. The final CARIBU configuration will utilize a 1 Ci (252)Cf source to produce radioactive beams with intensities up to 10(6) ions∕s for use in the ATLAS facility. The ECR charge breeder has been tested with stable beam injection and has achieved charge breeding efficiencies of 3.6% for (23)Na(8+), 15.6% for (84)Kr(17+), and 13.7% for (85)Rb(19+) with typical breeding times of 10 ms∕charge state. For the first radioactive beams, a charge breeding efficiency of 11.7% has been achieved for (143)Cs(27+) and 14.7% for (143)Ba(27+). The project has been commissioned with a radioactive beam of (143)Ba(27+) accelerated to 6.1 MeV∕u. In order to take advantage of its lower residual contamination, an EBIS charge breeder will replace the ECR charge breeder in the next two years. The advantages and disadvantages of the two techniques are compared taking into account the requirements of the next generation radioactive beam facilities.

The construction of the Californium Rare Ion Breeder Upgrade, a new radioactive beam facility for the Argonne tandem linac accelerator system (ATLAS), is in progress. The facility will use fission fragments from a 1 Ci (252)Cf source, thermalized and collected into a low-energy particle beam by a helium gas catcher. In order to reaccelerate these beams, the existing ATLAS ECR1 ion source has been redesigned to function as a charge breeder source. The design features, initial results, and status of this charge breeder configuration are presented.

The Electron Beam Ion Source (EBIS), developed to breed Californium Rare Isotope Breeder Upgrade (CARIBU) radioactive beams at Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System (ATLAS), is being tested off-line. A unique property of the EBIS is a combination of short breeding times, high repetition rates, and a large acceptance. Overall, we have implemented many innovative features during the design and construction of the CARIBU EBIS as compared to the existing EBIS breeders. The off-line charge breeding tests are being performed using a surface ionization source that produces singly charged cesium ions. The main goal of the off-line commissioning is to demonstrate stable operation of the EBIS at a 10 Hz repetition rate and a breeding efficiency into single charge state higher than 15%. These goals have been successfully achieved and exceeded. We have measured (20% ± 0.7%) breeding efficiency into the single charge state of 28+ cesium ions with the breeding time of 28 ms. In general, the current CARIBU EBIS operational parameters can provide charge breeding of any ions in the full mass range of periodic table with high efficiency, short breeding times, and sufficiently low charge-to-mass ratio, 1/6.3 for the heaviest masses, for further acceleration in ATLAS. In this paper, we discuss the parameters of the EBIS and the charge breeding results in a pulsed injection mode with repetition rates up to 10 Hz.

The Rare Isotope Accelerator (RIA) facility utilizes the concept of simultaneous acceleration of two charge states from the ion source. We are building a prototype two charge‐state (2Q) injector of the RIA Driver Linac, which includes an ECR ion source, a LEBT and one‐segment of the prototype RFQ. Currently, the 2Q‐LEBT Facility consists of Berkeley Ion Equipment Corporation BIE‐100 ECR ion source. The rf transmitters, high voltage power supplies, turbo pumps and other related equipment were received with the source. BIE‐100 is an all‐permanent‐magnet source and has the highest magnetic field strengths for an ECR ion source of this type ever built. The magnetic field achieves a maximum strength of 11 kG at the plasma chamber surface and 13 kG on the axis. The source can operate with two‐frequency plasma heating of 12.75 and 14.5 GHz. The reassembly of the source has been completed and beam production was achieved in the June 2004. This report includes measured beam current and emittance for 16O from the s...

The excitation energy, spin and parity of the yrast superdeformed (SD) band in 152Dy have been established. The excitation energy of the lowest observed level in this band is found to be 10,644 keV with an assigned spin and parity of 24+. In addition, nine transitions of dipole character have been identified, which connect the excited superdeformed band 6 in 152Dy to the yrast SD band. The excitation energy of the lowest level in the excited SD band 6 is 14,239 keV. The spin and parity of this state has been determined to be either 29− or 31−. The measured properties of SD band 6 are consistent with an interpretation in terms of a rotational band built on an octupole vibration. A comparison with an RPA calculation by Nakatsukasa et al. suggests that the spin of the lowest SD band 6 level is 31−.

The Californium Rare Ion Breeder Upgrade (CARIBU) of the Argonne National Laboratory Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System (ATLAS) facility provides low-energy and accelerated neutron-rich radioactive beams to address key nuclear physics and astrophysics questions. A 350 mCi (252)Cf source produces fission fragments which are thermalized and collected by a helium gas catcher into a low-energy particle beam with a charge of 1+ or 2+. An electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source functions as a charge breeder in order to raise the ion charge sufficiently for acceleration in the ATLAS linac. The ECR charge breeder has achieved stable beam charge breeding efficiencies of 10.1% for (23)Na(7+), 17.9% for (39)K(10+), 15.6% for (84)Kr(17+), and 12.4% for (133)Cs(27+). For the radioactive beams, a charge breeding efficiency of 11.7% has been achieved for (143)Cs(27+) and 14.7% for (143)Ba(27+). The typical breeding times are 10 ms/charge state, but the source can be tuned such that this value increases to 100 ms/charge state with the best breeding efficiency corresponding to the longest breeding times-the variation of efficiencies with breeding time will be discussed. Efforts have been made to characterize and reduce the background contaminants present in the ion beam through judicious choice of q/m combinations. Methods of background reduction are being investigated based upon plasma chamber cleaning and vacuum practices.

A high-efficiency charge breeder based on an Electron Beam Ion Source (EBIS) is being developed by the ANL Physics Division to increase the intensity and improve the purity of accelerated radioactive ion beams. A wide variety of low-energy neutron-rich ion beams are produced by the Californium Rare Isotope Breeder Upgrade (CARIBU) for the Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System (ATLAS). These beams will be charge-bred by an EBIS charge breeder to a charge-to-mass ratio (q/A) ≥ 1/7 and accelerated by ATLAS to energies of about 10 MeV/u. The assembly of the CARIBU EBIS charge breeder except the injection/extraction beam lines has been completed. This summer we started electron beam commissioning of the EBIS. The first results on electron beam extraction, transport from the electron gun to a high power electron collector are presented and discussed.

An electron cyclotron resonance ion source has been utilized to produce mercury beams with intensities of 4.5 eμA of (202)Hg(29+) and 3.0 eμA of (202)Hg(31+) from natural abundance mercury metal. The production technique relies on the evaporation of liquid mercury into the source plasma vacuum region and utilizes elemental mercury instead of a volatile organic compound as the neutral feed material.

The construction of the Californium Rare Isotope Breeder Upgrade (CARIBU) for the Argonne National Laboratory ATLAS facility is completed and its commissioning is being performed. In its full capacity, the CARIBU facility will use fission fragments from a 1 Curie (Ci) {sup 252}Cf source. The ions will be thermalized and collected into a low-energy ion beam by a helium gas catcher, mass analyzed by an isobar separator, and charge bred to higher charge states for acceleration in ATLAS. To reach energies E/A 10 MeV/u, one should inject ions with charge-to-mass ratio (q/A) {ge} 1/7 into the ATLAS linac. In the first stage, the existing Electron Cyclotron Resonance (ECR) ion source will be used as a charge breeder. The maximum intensity of radioactive ion beams at the output of the gas catcher will not exceed 10{sup 7} ions per second. A charge breeder based on an Electron Beam Ion Source (EBIS) has significant advantages over the ECR option for ion beam intensities up to about 10{sup 9} ions per second, providing 3-4 times higher efficiency and significantly better purity of highly charged radioactive ion beams for further acceleration. The proposed EBIS project for CARIBU will heavily utilize state-of-the-art EBIS technology recentlymore » developed at Brookhaven National Laboratory. This will allow us to reduce both the project cost and timescale, simultaneously insuring reliable technical realization of the cutting-edge technology. Several parameters of the CARIBU EBIS charge breeder (EBIS-CB) will be relaxed with respect to the BNL EBIS in favor of higher reliability and lower cost. Technical performance of the CARIBU charge breeder will not suffer from such a relaxation and will provide high efficiency for a whole range of radioactive ion beams. The goal of this paper is to present the initial design of the EBIS charge breeder for radioactive ion beams at ATLAS.« less

The construction of the Californium Rare Ion Breeder Upgrade, a new radioactive beam facility for the Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System (ATLAS), is nearing completion. The facility will use fission fragments from a 1 Ci (252)Cf source; thermalized and collected into a low-energy particle beam by a helium gas catcher. In order to reaccelerate these beams, an existing ATLAS electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source was redesigned to function as an ECR charge breeder. Thus far, the charge breeder has been tested with stable beams of rubidium and cesium achieving charge breeding efficiencies of 9.7% into (85)Rb(17+) and 2.9% into (133)Cs(20+).

The 10 GHz ECR-I ion source at ATLAS is being modified to create a small inner volume within the main plasma chamber to reduce the residual helium background gas load. This effort is part of an experiment to measure the residual concentration of 3He in highly isotopically enriched 4He samples. The modification consists of a new extractor electrode on which is integrally mounted a 2.5-cm-diam quartz tube of approximately 8 cm length. Energizing just the extraction coil produces an ECR only inside the quartz volume. The quartz tube is pumped only through the 1-mm-diam extraction hole. rf power is provided by propagation through the main plasma tank acting as a multimode waveguide. The source must operate in the pressure regime of 10–200 mTorr in order to achieve sufficient sensitivity to measure a 3He/4He ratio of approximately 1×10−15. Results of these tests and the operation of the source in this highly unusual mode will be presented.