The radioactive ion beam facility project at VECC - present and future

An ISOL (Isotope Separator On-line) post-accelerator type of Radioactive Ion Beam (RIB) facility is being developed. Light ion beams from the K= 130 cyclotron in conjugation with suitable thick targets will produce the RIBs. A properly optimized target design will ensure that the RIBs will diffuse out of the thick target and enter in to an on-line ion source. The RIB of interest will be separated from other reaction products using an ISOL system. The RIB at this stage has an energy of 1 keV/u, which will be accelerated in steps. The first stage of acceleration will utilize a heavy ion RFQ (Radio Frequency Quadrupole) to accelerate up to 86 keV/u. The next stage of post-acceleration will provide around 400 keV/u using three Linac cavities. Further acceleration up to about 4-5 MeV/u will make this RIB facility an excellent tool for all disciplines of accelerator based research. Various aspects of this project have been discussed a number of times in different symposia. This paper will highlight the recent developments and the future prospects with this facility