On 30 November 1998 the new ISAC (Isotope Separation and Acceleration) facility at the Canadian TRIUMF laboratory in Vancouver produced its first ion beam with short-lived exotic isotopes.
Low-energy beams of potassium (atomic mass numbers 37 and 38) were transported from a proton-bombarded target through a high-resolution mass-separator system to the first experimental station. This milestone was achieved more than a month ahead of initial estimates. The first experiment will investigate weak interaction symmetries in the decay of optically trapped potassium isotopes. On 30 November 1998 the new ISAC (Isotope Separation and Acceleration) facility at the Canadian TRIUMF laboratory in Vancouver produced its first ion beam with short-lived exotic isotopes.
ISAC uses ISOL (on-line isotope separation) to produce short-lived exotic nuclei through a reaction between the primary proton beam and a thick target. Additional experiments measure precise lifetimes of exotic nuclei.
While this first beam was created with only 0.5 µA of proton current on the production target, over the next few years the current on target will gradually be increased to 100 µA.
A nuclear magnetic resonance station using polarized lithium 8 for condensed matter studies and a low temperature nuclear-orientation station are scheduled to begin operation this autumn. Completion of this first phase of the facility (ISAC-I) is expected in late 2000 when accelerated beams up to 1.5 MeV/nucleon become available for nuclear astrophysics measurements.
