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The Radioactive Ion Source Test

RIST was a project to show that beams of radioactive ions could be produced with much greater magnitude than those currently available.

RIST

The NPG provided a major contribution to the Radioactive Ion Source Test project. The aim of this project was to show that the 800 MeV pulsed proton beam of the ISIS facility at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) could be used to produce beams of radioactive ions with intensity of up to 2 orders of magnitude greater than the maximum currently available at the ISOLDE facility, CERN.

 

To this end it was necessary to design a new target ion source assembly capable of withstanding the massive increase in thermal power without compromising the efficiency of release and ionisation of the exotic species of interest.

 

The group designed the optics for the beam transport, the 90 degree electrostatic bend, the design and construction of the beam line above the shielding plug and also worked on the detection system and data acquisition.

 

The project proved successful. The new design of Tantalum target operated successfully at the anticipated 30KW of input power and showed comparable or better ionization efficiency and release times in relation to the design in use at the ISOLDE facility at CERN - a programme of target tests then continued at RAL and ISOLDE.

 

This work was used as input to the SIRIUS design project.

 

 

Contacts
Prof J Simpson