REX - ISOLDE, an accelerator for radioactive ions

The ISOLDE facility placed at CERN, Geneva has been successful in the production of radioactive ions since more than 30 years. The aim of REX - ISOLDE (Radioactive beam EXperiment at ISOLDE) is to post - accelerate light ( A ≤ 50) radioactive ions from ISOLDE up to an energy of 0.8 - 2.2 MeV/u. The set up consists of a Penning trap for beam accumulation and bunching, an EBIS for charge breeding, a linear accelerator and finally a target and detector station. First experiments with such beams are the investigation of nuclear structure near the magic neutron numbers 20 and 28. The method used will be γ-spectroscopy following coulomb excitation and particle transfer reactions caused by the collision of high energy radioactive ions with target atoms. (author)