Science Nuggets

Diamonds are forever

Radioactive beam facilities of the newest generation can produce beams of rare istopes with rates up to 10⁸ particles per second. In many experiments it would be desirable to track particle positions and measure timing properties of these intense beams on a event-by-event basis. Researchers at the NSCL and MSU's physics department developed a particle detector made from single-crystal diamond that will significantly extend the capabilities of conventional detection technology. The diamond is grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) at MSU's Keck Microfabrication Facility.
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Nuclear reaction rates and the production of carbon in stars

Early in their lives, stars with masses a few times that of the sun burn the hydrogen in their cores to make helium, become red giant stars, and then burn that helium to make carbon and oxygen. The standard description predicts stars with a dominantly oxygen, yet light observed in nature appears to indicate carbon rich envelopes.The solution to this puzzle may lie in the uncertainties of nuclear reaction rates used in the models. More

Ground state magnetic moment of Potassium-35

Although Potassium-35 lies very near the proton drip line, its magnetic properties still remain similar in nature to those nuclei nearest the valley of stability. More

g-factor of Sulfur-38 and Sulfur-40 and the transition to nuclear deformation

The g-factors of the neutron-rich sulfur isotopes Sulfur-38 and Sulfur-40 were measured. This was the first application of the High Velocity Transient Field (HVTF) method developed in collaboration with researchers from the Australian National University. More

Magnetic moment of Copper-57 and breaking of the Nickel-56 double-magic core

The magnetic dipole moment of Copper-57 was deduced by application of the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance technique, which is a similar technique to Magnetic Resonance Imaging used in the hospitals for functional diagnostics, but improves on sensitivity by a million*billion times using radiation-detection methods. More

Rare-Ion Beams Brought to Rest

A team at the NSCL has succeeded in bring beams of rare, short-lived isotopes traveling at approximately one-half the speed of light (330 million mph) to rest. Once captured and thermalized in a buffer gas, the buffer gas was stripped off and the ions were sent on to an ion trap for mass measurements carried out with extreme precision. More

Towards describing atomic nuclei beyond the drip line

A new version of the Continuum Shell Model simultaneously describes neutron-bound and neutron-unbound states in oxygen isotopes. More

First observation of Germanium-60 and Selenium-64

Two new proton-rich isotopes, Germanium-60 and Selenium-64, were observed for the first time. More

First Penning trap mass measurement of Calcium-38

This measurement marks not only LEBIT's first resonance of an instable nucleus, it is the first Penning trap mass measurement of the Calcium-38 nuclide and it is the first Penning trap mass measurement of any nucleus at a fragmentation facility. More

Diamonds are forever

Researchers at the NSCL and MSU's physics department developed a particle detector made from single-crystal diamond that will
significantly extend the capabilities of conventional detection technology. More

Production yields of rare isotopes from projectile fragmentation of Calcium-40 and Calcium-48

A set of recent experiments at the NSCL has demonstrated the production of almost twice as many isotopes, most of which are neutron-rich. More

New reaction discovered: Hitting two nuclear gulls with one bullet

When a neutron-rich projectile reacts with a light nuclear target, the knockout of two protons occurs as a direct reaction. More

Half-life of Nickel-78

The half-life of Nickel-78 offers a glimpse at the origin of precious metals in nature. More

Fewer neutrons than expected

A single neutron was removed from the surface of the atomic nucleus Argon-32. Surprisingly few neutrons occupy the outmost shell of this rare isotope. More

Magic nucleus Silicon-42

A collaboration of researchers from Florida State University, the NSCL, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the University of Surrey (UK) used rare isotope beams from the Coupled Cyclotron Facility to demonstrate the magicity of Silicon-42. More