Speaker
Description
$\beta$-decay spectroscopy of neutron-rich nuclei near the limits of stability provides powerful benchmarks for nuclear structure models [1]. Such measurements rely critically on the ability to correlate implanted ions with their subsequent decay products, including $\gamma$-ray transitions and $\beta$-decay electrons, making implantation detectors a central component of modern $\beta$-decay experiments. As experimental programs push toward increasingly exotic nuclei, implantation detectors must provide excellent timing performance, spatial resolution, and operational stability under high-rate conditions [2].
As part of detector development efforts at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), a CeBr$_3$ scintillator was developed and characterized as a primary ion-implantation detector for the FRIB Decay Station Initiator (FDSi). The detector consists of a $48 \times 48 \times 3\,\mathrm{mm}^3$ CeBr$_3$ crystal coupled to a pixilated $16 \times 16$ Position Sensitive Photomultiplier Tube (PSPMT), which has thus far allowed for full implantation of the cocktail beam within the scintillator volume. Detailed characterization studies were performed to evaluate the detector response, timing performance, position sensitivity, and long-term stability under sustained beam conditions. Following these studies, the detector was integrated into the FDSi data acquisition system [3].
The experimental implementation of the CeBr$_3$ implantation detector as a component of the FDSi setup occurred during the FRIB E23055 experiment, which focused on neutron-rich nuclei in the region from $N=40$ toward $N=50$, with a beam setting centered around $^{68}$Ni. The detector demonstrated excellent timing and position resolution, resulting in good $\beta$-correlation efficiencies during the experiment. An update on the ongoing analysis to extract $\beta$-decay half-lives and identify isomeric states in populated nuclei will be presented.
References
1. T. Otsuka, A. Gade, O. Sorlin, T. Suzuki, and Y. Utsuno, "Evolution
of shell structure in exotic nuclei," Rev. Mod. Phys. 92, 015002 (2020).
2. R. Yokoyama et al., "Segmented YSO scintillation detectors as a new $\beta$-implant detection tool for decay spectroscopy in fragmentation facilities", Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A 937, 93--97 (2019).
3. "FRIB Decay Station Initiator Proposal," (2020), https://fds.ornl.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/FDSi-Proposal-May2020.pdf.
| Contribution category | Experiment |
|---|---|
| Presenter status | Student |