CERN. Geneva. ISOLDE and Neutron Time-of-Flight Experiments Committee

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CERN/INTC 2000-048INTC 614 December 2000ISOLDE AND NEUTRON TIME-OF-FLIGHTEXPERIMENTS COMMITTEE (INTC)Minutes of the sixth Meeting onMonday, 27 November 2000OPEN SESSIONAfter few brief introductory remarks, the Chairman called on M. Lindroos, to report on thetechnical status of the ISOLDE facility on behalf of the PS ISOLDE team.This report was mainly devoted to the ISOLDE consolidation project which consists of twoparts. The first (connected with improving radiation safety in buildings 179, 838 and 170)will bring buildings 179 and 838 to compliance with European legislation Class Arequirements, and building 170 to those of Class C. In addition, the target manipulationrobot is being renovated. The second part aims at ensuring that the number and quality ofISOLDE shifts delivered to experiments each year is adequate, and includes, among othersthings, new front-ends , better target manufacturing facilities, high resolution modeoperation of the HRS and improvements of secondary beam tranport facilities.M. Lindroos remarked that while the carrying out of the consolidation programme workwill not adversely affect the planned physics programme the lack of a spare front-end forthe 2001 run could have an effect on the GPS programme as the GPS front-end is comingtowards the end of its projected life-span.In his ISOLDE Coordinator's report, Thomas Nilsson described the recent physicsschedule and the status of the ISOLDE scientific programme. After 31 calendar weeks in2000, 289 RIB experimental and 35 test RIB shifts had been delivered, and these figureswere expected to rise to 297 and 50 respectively by the 2000-2001 shutdown. Out of thesethe shift figures for the HRS are 50 (after 31 weeks) and 67 (at the shutdown). The yieldtest at 600 MeV Booster energy will be carried out in the remaining time before theshutdown. The physics topic breakdown during 2000 was: Solid state physics 22 %, weakinteractions and nuclear physics 47 %, atomic physics 16 %, medical and biologicalphysics 3 % and particle- and astro- physics 12 %.In the absence of E. Radermacher, the nTOF status report was given by C. Borcea. Allcommissioning up to the 187 m collimator has been finished, with PS intensities between1 and 4 times  1011 protons per bunch. Preliminary conclusions are that the nTOF behavesas expected with acceptable radiation levels, although additional measurements will benecessary in April 2001 to arrive at final figures. A more permanent performancemonitoring system will also have to be installed, and will be discussed at the next INTC.At the previous INTC meeting, a technical design report had been requested by theCommittee for the nTOF experimental area. This has now been received and its contentswere presented by P. Pavlopoulos.The Open Session then proceeded to hear presentations of the following proposals andrequests for further beam time:P86 Add. 1 (INTC 2000-039): Studies of High-TC Superconductors Doped withRadioactive Isotopes.P132 (INTC 2000-038): Studies of Colossal Magnetoresistive Oxides with RadioactiveIsotopes.2P113 Add. 1 (INTC 2000-037): Decay study for the very neutron-rich Sn nuclides,135-140 Sn separated by selective laser ionizationP133 (INTC 2000-041): ): Radiotracer spectroscopy on group II acceptors in GaN.P134 (INTC 2000-042): Exploring the dipole polarizability of 11Li at REX-ISOLDE.CLOSED SESSIONPresent  :  B.W. Allardyce, J. Aystö, C. Détraz, J. Eades (Secretary), J-P. Duraud, H. Flocard(Chairman), K-L. Kratz, M. Lindroos, T. Nilsson, J-P. Riunaud, C. Rossi-Alvarez,B. Rubio, W. Scobel, R. Voss, K.P. Lieb, K. Langanke, J. Suhonen, J. Kluge,P. Walker.Apologies   : H. Ravn, E. Migneco, P. van Isacker, W. DavidThe Chairman first welcomed Jouhi Suhonen and Jürgen Kluge as new members of theCommittee replacing Piet van Isacker and William David, and the minutes of the lastmeeting were approved with the deletion of the word "facility" (last paragraph of page 1) inthe open session discussion concerning REX-ISOLDE.The Committee first discussed the various technical and scientific progress reportspresented in the open meeting as follows:1.   ISOLDE technical status report  This was highly appreciated by the Committee as showing ordered progress on all fronts.PS Division's evident commitment to the ISOLDE consolidation programme wasconsidered to be a worthy investment in the future of the facility, and the Committee fullysupports the programme outlined by M. Lindroos.2.   ISOLDE scientific status report  The Committee congratulated the ISOLDE collaboration and CERN ISOLDE teams on theextensive physics results obtained in 2000.3.    nTOF Technical report  The Committee appreciated the positive nature of the progress report on the nTOFpresented by C. Borcea and congratulated the team on the quality of the nTOF beamsrevealed in these first measurements. It was noted however that the need for further testswill affect the research programme and the Committee asked for a clarification of thissituation at the next meeting. Particular questions to be addressed include a) what furthermeasurements need to be taken for the completion of the commissioning phase b) when thecollaboration expects to take over from the development group  and c) whether thecommissioning period already foreseen needs to be prolonged substantially.4.    nTOF Experimental area Technical Design Report  It was agreed that many questions raised previously by the INTC had been answered bythe extensive and up-to-date document summarised by P. Pavlopoulos in his presentation(INTC 2000-018). The TDR was therefore accepted. A few further questions of detailcan nevertheless be expected in future and a report on the evaluation of new experimentaldata is expected at the end of 2001.3The presentations of the five proposals presented in the open meeting were then discussedas follows:5. P86 Add. 1 (INTC 2000-039): Studies of High-TC Superconductors Doped withRadioactive IsotopesP132 (INTC 2000-038): Studies of Colossal Magnetoresistive Oxides with RadioactiveIsotopesThese two proposals were discussed together as they involve the same groups and usesimilar experimental techniques. It was also noted that they both have potential practicalapplications, although their aims fall for the moment in the domain of non-patentable basicresearch. The INTC agreed to recommend the full 26-shift allocation to the ResearchBoard for P132 and half of the requested time (13 shifts) for P86 Add. 1 . In the lattercase, the work should concentrate on what was considered to be the most innovative field,that of Infinite Layer Cuprates. The remaining allocation may be supported following asubseqent progress report.6. P113 Add. 1 (INTC 2000-037): Decay study for the very neutron-rich Sn nuclides,135-140 Sn separated by selective laser ionizationThe INTC appreciated the presentation of data from P113 . The 135Sn nuclide isinteresting from both the nuclear structure and astrophysical points of view and thecollaboration is encouraged to carry on the exploration of this region. The Research Boardwill be asked to approve the 15 further shifts requested, it being understood that thecollaboration should participate actively in the technical developments they are requesting.7. P133 (INTC 2000-041): Radiotracer spectroscopy on group II acceptors in GaN.Questions concerning Be and Mg related defects in GaN, a material used in 'blue' lasers,were both thought to be worth studying, and the Committee will recommend that the16-shift total requested be approved by the Research Board.8. P134 (INTC 2000-042): Exploring the dipole polarizability of 11Li at REX-ISOLDE.The amount of dipole polarizibility information that can be extracted from themeasurements is clearly dependent on the precision obtained. Some questions weretherefore raised about whether the statistical errors would be small enough with a 22-shiftallocation. The answer to this question depends on what 11Li intensity will be availablefrom REX-ISOLDE and on the purity of the beam. Given the evident interest of the topicthe Committee therefore received the experiment favourably, but regrets that it is unable forthe moment to recommend a value for the beam time allocation. It will consider thesituation again when answers to these questions are available. In the meantime, the INTCalso encourages the collaboration to prepare an analysis of the statistical and systematicuncertainties, based on the foreseeable production rates of REX-ISOLDE.OTHER BUSINESSThe INTC took note of the following Letters of Intent:I34 (INTC 2000-043): High Resolution X-Ray Fluorescence after Electron Capture in Ni-56.The Letter of Intent asks for three brief feasibility experiments on X-rays followingelectron capture in 56Ni. The Committee cannot support these without clarification of manyissues that arose during its discussion. The authors are, however, invited to take these upwith the Chairman.4I35 (INTC 2000-044): Nuclear binding around the rp - process waiting points 68Se and72Kr.The Letter of Intent requests development of several target-ion sources. The INTC foundthe L.o.I. sufficiently interesting to encourage the authors to present a full proposal.I36 (INTC 2000-045): Proton angular distribution from oriented 147Tm high-spin isomer.The Committee will welcome a full proposal on this topic.Before closing the session, the Chairman expressed the Committee's thanks to theoutgoing members, Karl-Ludwig Kratz and Phil Walker, for their dedication and hardwork during their mandate which expires with the current meeting.The next INTC meeting is on Monday 26 February 2001 , for which the deadline forsubmission of proposals will be Friday 2 February 2001.The dates of the other INTC meetings for 2001 are:February, 26-27April 23-24September 24-25November 26-27.John EadesScientific Secretary; tel. 76 74273John.Eades@cern.chINTC Secretariat:  Monique Budel (Bldg. 14/4-022); Tel. 76 74270Monique.Budel@cern.ch

Minutes of the sixth meeting on Monday 27 November 2000

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