Sub-millisecond atom-to-ion transformation in the TULIP ISOL system.

TULIP (T arget Ion So u rce for Short- L ived I sotope P roduction) is an original Isotope Separator On Line project dedicated to the production of short-lived neutron-deficient ions. It was tested for the first time in March 2022 at GANIL (Grand Accélérateur National d'Ions Lourds)/ SPIRAL1 (Système de Production d'Ions Radioactifs Accélérés en Ligne, phase 1) with the production of Rb isotopes using a primary beam of 22Ne at an energy of 4.5 MeV/A. 76Rb and 78Rb isotope rates of ∼ 4 × 103 and ∼ 6 × 104 pps were measured for a primary beam intensity of 6 × 1012 pps and may be improved by a factor between 5 and 10. A remarkably short atom-to-ion transformation (AIT) time close to 200 μ s was achieved. This result demonstrates how beneficial the design of the TULIP target ion source system is in terms of response time and allows us to confidently look forward to 74Rb + production, which is one of the goals of the TULIP project. The results obtained on Rb production suggest testing the principle for the production of more sticky elements. Ions from metallic isotopes around 100Sn will be the next objective. • Response time breakthrough in an innovative fast ISOL system. • Improved ISOL efficiency limits with respect to radioactive decay. • A new ISOL method for the production of neutron-deficient short-lived isotopes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]