Breakthrough expected to accelerate nuclear structure research on short-lived rare isotopes

South Korea's heavy-ion accelerator RAON [Institute for Basic Science]
South Korea's heavy-ion accelerator RAON [Institute for Basic Science]

The Institute for Basic Science's heavy-ion accelerator research institute, known as IRIS, announced Tuesday that it had successfully conducted the country's first laser spectroscopy experiment using a rare isotope beam from a heavy-ion accelerator.

A joint research team comprising IRIS, the Korea Air Force Academy, the Rare Nuclear Research Group, Korea University's Department of Accelerator Science, Korea National University of Education's Department of Physics Education, and the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute's Advanced Radiation Technology Institute carried out the experiment using CLaSsy, a collinear laser spectroscopy device. The team used a sodium (Na) isotope beam produced via the ISOL (Isotope Separation On-Line) method, marking the first successful laser spectroscopy experiment of its kind in South Korea.

The greatest challenge in studying rare nuclides is their extremely short half-lives. The CLaSsy device addresses this by aligning a laser with ion and atomic beams traveling at roughly 400,000 meters per second, enabling spectroscopy before the rare nuclides decay. The technique allows researchers to measure the energy structure of rare nuclides and extract key nuclear data needed to build nuclear models.

The joint team successfully verified CLaSsy's performance and demonstrated that high-precision nuclear structure research is achievable by conducting laser spectroscopy on a range of short-lived rare nuclides. The findings were published in the Journal of Instrumentation, an international academic journal covering accelerator and detector research.

"This achievement goes beyond simply verifying the performance of CLaSsy, one of the core experimental devices of the heavy-ion accelerator — it demonstrates the potential to expand the use of various laser technologies at the accelerator," said Park Seong-jong, a research fellow at the IBS heavy-ion accelerator research institute. "Laser-based devices will become central to RAON's rare isotope research going forward."

Kwon Myeon, acting director of the IBS heavy-ion accelerator research institute, said the result marks the first time laser technology has been applied to rare nuclear research at a heavy-ion accelerator facility in South Korea. "We expect this to serve as an important foundation for RAON to advance into a cutting-edge accelerator facility that integrates state-of-the-art laser technology," he said.


nbgkoo@heraldcorp.com