The production of accelerated radioactive ion beams

During the last few years, substantial work has been done and interest developed in the scientific opportunities available with accelerated radioactive ion beams (RIBs) for nuclear physics, astrophysics, and applied research. This interest has led to the construction, development, and proposed development of both first- and second-generation RIB facilities in Asia, North America, and Europe; international conferences on RIBs at Berkeley and Louvain-la-Neuve; and many workshops on specific aspects of RIB production and science. This paper provides a discussion of both the projectile fragmentation, PF, and isotope separator on-line, ISOL, approach to RIB production with particular emphasis on the latter approach, which employs a postaccelerator and is most suitable for nuclear structure physics. The existing, under construction, and proposed facilities worldwide are discussed. The paper draws heavily from the CERN ISOLDE work, the North American IsoSpin Laboratory (ISL) study, and the operating first-generation RIB facility at Louvain-la-Neuve, and the first-generation RIB project currently being constructed at ORNL