The Radioactive Ion Beams in Brazil (RIBRAS) facility. Description, program, main results, future plans

RIBRAS (Radioactive Ion Beams in Brazil) is a facility installed at the Institute of Physics of the University of Sao Paulo (IFUSP), Brazil. The RIBRAS system consists of two superconducting solenoids and uses the ''in-flight method'' to produce radioactive ion beams using the primary beam provided by the 8UD Pelletron Tandem of IFUSP. The ion beams produced so far by RIBRAS are 6He, 8Li, 7Be, 10Be, 8B, 12B with intensities that can vary from 104 to 106 pps. Initially the experimental program covered the study of elastic and inelastic scattering with the objective to study the interaction potential and the reaction mechanisms between weakly bound (RIB) and halo (6He and 8B) projectiles on light, medium and heavy mass targets. With highly purified beams, the study of resonant elastic scattering and resonant transfer reactions, using inverse kinematics and thick targets, has also been included in our experimental program. Also, transfer reactions of astrophysical interest and fusion reactions induced by halo nuclei are part of the near-future research program. Our recent results on elastic scattering, alpha-particle production and total reaction cross sections, as well as the resonant elastic and transfer reactions, are presented. Our plans for the near future are related to the installation of a new beam line and a cave for gamma-ray detection. We intend to place in operation a large area neutron detector available in our laboratory. The long-range plans could be the move of the RIBRAS system to the more energetic beam line of the LINAC post-accelerator (10MeV/nucleon primary beams) still in construction in our laboratory. (orig.)