MRI Consortium: Development of a Charged Particle Telescope by Undergraduate Research Students for Studies of Exotic Nuclei

Augustana College, Rock Island IL

Investigators

Abstract

Determining the properties of atomic nuclides requires the measurement of particles emitted by this nuclide. Detecting these particles in coincidence with other emitted radiation or particles, such as gamma-rays, neutrons, and charged particles, is difficult due to their different properties. A new charged particle detector system will make experiments requiring detection of these particles together more efficient for experiments performed at facilities such as the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) and soon the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) at Michigan State University (MSU). Also, the development and assembly of this device will provide invaluable training for undergraduate students at Augustana College, Wabash College, and Hope College (small, undergraduate-only, liberal arts institutions), which will help prepare them for graduate school. The funds for this award will support the work of undergraduate students and the primary investigator to purchase, test, and install the new experimental detector system for the use at the NSCL and FRIB. Experiments on exotic nuclear systems are frequently performed at or near the neutron drip-line to probe changes in nuclear structure. The most straightforward type of experiment involves detecting a single neutron and charged particle resulting from a nuclide decaying from a neutron-unbound state. However, the charged fragment may be in a bound excited state resulting in gamma-ray emission, such as for some neutron-unbound states of F-25 and Be-13. Thus efficient coincident detection of gamma-rays, neutrons, and charged particles is desired. This proposal supports the purchase, development, and installation of a compact charged particle detector telescope that will provide a balance of efficient gamma-ray, neutron, and charged particle detection. This system will be installed at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) at Michigan State University (MSU), as a radioactive nuclear ion beam facility is needed to produce short-lived nuclides for experimentation. The charged particle detector telescope will detect the charged particle, allow the neutron to pass through with minimal attenuation to then be detected by the MoNA-LISA (Modular Neutron Array and the Large-area multi-Institutional Scintillator Array), and allow gamma-ray detection using compact systems already at the NSCL. Also, this device will also be available for use at Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB). This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.