The Institute of Physics

NUCLEAR PHYSICS GROUP

NEWSLETTER
Spring 1997
NUCLEAR PHYSICS GROUP COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Chairman: Dr.P.M.Walker CPhys FInstP (University of Surrey)
e-mail: P.Walker@ph.surrey.ac.uk phone: 01483-300800 ext 2728
Secretary: Dr.J.S.Al-Khalili CPhys MInstP (University of Surrey)
e-mail: J.Al-Khalili@ph.surrey.ac.uk phone: 01483-300800 ext 2731
Dr.M.A.Bentley CPhys MInstP (University of Staordshire)
e-mail: mab@nphsun.stas.ac.uk phone: 01782-294612
Dr.J.Billowes CPhys MInstP (University of Manchester)
e-mail: jb@mags.ph.man.ac.uk phone: 0161-2754104
Dr.A.M.Bruce CPhys MInstP (University of Brighton)
e-mail: Alison.Bruce@bton.ac.uk phone: 01273-642536
Dr.B.R.Fulton CPhys FInstP (University of Birmingham)
e-mail: B.R.Fulton@bham.ac.uk phone: 0121-4144683
Dr.D.Ireland CPhys MInstP (University of Glasgow)
e-mail: D.Ireland@physics.gla.ac.uk phone: 0141-3398855 ext 8419
Dr.P.G.Jones CPhys MInstP (University of Birmingham)
e-mail: P.G.Jones@bham.ac.uk phone: 0121-4144677
Dr.M.J.Joyce CPhys MInstP (BNFL plc)
e-mail: mjj1@bn .co.uk phone: 01772-763954
Dr.A.N.Ostrowski CPhys MInstP (University of Edinburgh)
e-mail: A.Ostrowski@ed.ac.uk phone: 0131-6505288
Dr.R.D.Page CPhys MInstP (University of Liverpool)
e-mail: rdp@ns.ph.liv.ac.uk phone: 0151-7943714
Dr.R.Wadsworth CPhys MInstP (University of York)
e-mail: oew@yksc.york.ac.uk phone: 01904 432242
Prof.D.D.Warner CPhys MInstP (CCLRC)
e-mail: D.D.Warner@dl.ac.uk phone: 01925-603458

REPRESENTATIVES ON THE NUCLEAR AND PARTICLE PHYSICS DIVISION:

Dr.J.L.Durell CPhys FInstP (University of Manchester)
Dr.D.Ireland CPhys MInstP (University of Glasgow)
Dr.R.D.Page CPhys MInstP (University of Liverpool)
Dr.I.J.Thompson CPhys MInstP (University of Surrey)
Dr.P.M.Walker CPhys FInstP (University of Surrey)
Dr.P.J.Woods CPhys MInstP (University of Edinburgh)

NEWSLETTER EDITORIAL BOARD:

Drs Al-Khalili, Billowes, Bruce, Ireland, Jones and Wadsworth .

Page 2
SIRIUS | the brightest star in our eyes

The UK could lead the world in radioactive beam research. The benets of this could conceivably
give a large boost to R&D in solid state, electronics, medical studies and treatment, corrosion studies,
materials science, etc. So, how do we do this, and what is SIRIUS anyway?
Radioactive beams oer the opportunity, eagerly grasped by nuclear physicists around the world, to
reach unexplored territory in the nuclear chart. The major facilities now being planned around the
world to study nuclear physics, using nuclear projectiles, are being designed for radioactive beams.
Hopefully, the new phenomena that are revealed will be on a scale comparable with the period when
heavy ion beams were rst made available. New nuclear structure properties are certainly expected
when the neutron and proton numbers are out of their usual balance.
The UK has the opportunity to lead the world in this new eld beyond the year 2000. The SIRIUS
facility, which is being discussed for possible construction at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, would
use 800 MeV protons from the ISIS synchrotron to create the widest possible range of exotic isotopes by
nuclear spallation, initially with tantalum targets. The newly created nuclei will diuse and be ionized
and mass separated before being accelerated. Low energy beams would be extracted for materials and
nuclear decay studies, while a dierent isotope could be accelerated to Coulomb barrier energies in a
heavy ion linac. The thing that makes SIRIUS unique is the intensity of the various radioactive beams:
a factor of typically 50 compared to anything presently under construction.
The technical details of the proposal are now being developed by a Coordination Committee with
representation across most of the university groups, and in cooperation with CCLRC and RAL. This
committee (chaired by Prof. Bill Gelletly, Surrey) reports through a formal management structure in
an EPSRC funded design project due to be completed by April 1998.
We need to build a community of supporters in the UK and in the rest of Europe. From the outset,
this should include people from beyond the eld of nuclear structure physics. To this end, the design
project will include SIRIUS WORKSHOPS in which representatives from the UK and Europe will be
invited to intensive two-day discussions to decide how SIRIUS could help their research. Workshops
are presently being organised in astrophysics (Phil Woods), solid state (Wilton Catford), nuclear decay
studies (Bill Gelletly) and medical applications (Martin Freer and Alison Bruce). Each workshop will be
limited to about 15 representatives, and is designed to act as a catalyst for subsequent developments.
The aims are to identify the specic requirements for beams, beam quality and availability, to advertise
the possibilities to a wider circle of researchers, and to encourage cross fertilisation of ideas. The
rst workshops will take place over the next few months. A later, open workshop building on these
foundations is envisaged for later in the year.
These developments are all proceeding in cooperation with our colleagues in the rest of Europe.
SIRIUS will no doubt be one of several possibilities that emerge for the next-generation European
facility for so-called ISOL-type radioactive beams. Complementary facilities using high energy
radioactive beams (fragmentation beams) are also likely to be built, and will be important in
dierent ways. In liaison with NuPECC and with other European laboratories, the best choice
for the next generation of ISOL facilities will need to be made. Wouldn't it be good for the UK,
if the best facility was the one designed to be built at the Rutherford Lab? Your input will be welcomed.

Wilton Catford (Chair, UK Radioactive Beams Users' Group) w.catford@surrey.ac.uk

Page 3
Dave Ireland (University of Glasgow) reports on the 1/2 day meeting at
Surrey, 15th January.
Applications of Radioactive Ion Beams

I very nearly did not make it to the meeting; a fog-bound Gatwick and a privatised rail
service transformed what should have been a relaxing lunch hour in a Guildford pub into
a slightly panicked dash to nd the meeting room. After negotiating the labyrinthine
network of the Surrey physics building, I was only about two transparencies late.
The general concept of the meeting was to initiate a dialogue between the nuclear
physics community and others who might be potential users of a new multi-disciplinary
radioactive ion beam (RIB) facility. The intention was, however, more of an introduction
to dierent disciplines than a detailed exchange of ideas. Paddy Regan had organised
the talks to be 20 minutes in length, which kept them brief and to the point, and it
was obvious from the packed seminar room that there is a great deal of interest in the
subject.
Bill Gelletly (University of Surrey) had started to pose the question \What is SIRIUS?"
when I arrived. This was a general talk on the concept of radioactive beams, which is
one of the major areas of current nuclear physics interest. For those not already familiar
with the idea, part of the existing 1 GeV proton beam from the ISIS accelerator at the
Rutherford lab will be extracted and used to produce a wide range of nuclear species,
in usable quantities, from a specially designed target. A design study is underway, and
it will report back in two year's time, giving design specications and costings; then the
dicult lobbying work will begin in earnest!
Potential users from industry were well represented by Malcolm Joyce (BNFL), Bob
Major (NNC Ltd) and Dewi Lewis (Amersham International). Clearly, commercial com-
panies are concerned with any innovations which may aect their business, and for these
companies at least, this means keeping in touch with developments. In particular, Amer-
sham (who are a major producer of radioactive isotopes, and supply a huge range of
customers) rely on producing some of their isotopes at rather ageing facilities (some of
which date back to the Manhatten project era). They freely admit that their fortuitous
use of this equipment will not last forever which is why they are seriously looking for
alternative means of production.
Several possible applications were mentioned, including the development of current
medical technology which utilises radioactive 'seeds' which can be implanted directly
into sites requiring radiotherapy as a means of localising radiation damage. One use of
radioactive beams could be to implant radioactive particles in some inert seed material.

Page 4
Nuclear medicine has often been quoted as one of the possible beneciaries of a new RNB
facility. I found it interesting, therefore, to hear Glen Blake (Guys Hospital London) talk
on the subject. Crudely speaking, nuclear medicine consists of imaging and therapy.
For obvious reasons, isotopes for scanning applications are better if -emitters, and
isotopes for therapy are better if  -emitters. The key point is the half-life of the
species; it should be long enough for the material to be made, transported and used,
whilst being short enough so that patients are not exposed to residual activity for longer
than necessary. This means that anything of use will probably have been discovered by
now. However, the means of producing material of interest, and potential developments
in the pharmacology of nuclear medicine are possible spin-os from a new facility.
It appears that semi-conductor research is already using radioactive isotopes for studying
electrical properties of materials, but that currently this is limited to fairly small depths.
Brian Sealy (Electrical Engineering Department, University of Surrey) pointed out that
the potential of implanting to greater depths with RIB's will open up the possibilities
of studying volume eects rather than surface or near-surface eects. The future for
using radioactive implants for characterising semiconductors looks very positive.
Wilton Catford nished o by stressing that this meeting should be regarded as an initial
one, and hoped that a dialogue in the form of a series of such meetings could emerge
amongst all potential beneciaries.
David Ireland
3rd Workshop on Electromagnetically Induced 2-Nucleon Emission

Previous workshops were held at Tübingen (1993) and in Gent

June 11-13, 1997
(1995).
Glasgow,
Scotland
This workshop is devoted to discussions on experimental and
theoretical progress achieved in the understanding of the
Organisers:
reaction mechanisms of the absorption processes of real and
virtual photons and the possible access towards
Bob Owens
nucleon-nucleon correlations.
(Glasgow),
Peter Grabmayr
Attendance will be limited to about 60 participants; no
(Tübingen),
Conference Fee will be charged. A first circular containing the
Jan Ryckebusch
preliminary program and information on accommodation has
(Gent)
been distributed.

Contact Email Address : 2nconf@np.ph.gla.ac.uk

Conference website: http://np.ph.gla.ac.uk/www/2nconf

Page 5
Alex Ostrowski (University of Edinburgh) reports on advances in
detector technology being made at Edinburgh.

Compact Disc Detector

Motivation
The Edinburgh Nuclear Physics Group is developing a new particle detector, named the
Compact Disc detector, based on the Double-Sided Silicon Strip Detector technology
that has successfully been used by the group in recent years. The main motivations for
the quest for a complete new design of such a device are the experimental conditions
that will be imposed by its usage in the Radioactive beam EXperiments at ISOLDE.
This experimental set-up is currently under construction at CERN, Geneva. The idea
behind REX-ISOLDE is to produce very neutron rich post-accelerated nuclei to perform
experiments in the region around the shell closures at the neutron numbers 20 and
28 using Coulomb excitation and neutron transfer. A typical example is the 32 Mg +
54
Cr reaction at 2.2 MeV/nucleon. Such studies will yield unprecedented insights into
level schemes, B(E) values and quadrupole deformations in this region close to the
neutron drip-line, where strong nuclear deformations have been predicted. To meet the
needs imposed by the physics involved in such a study, the REX-ISOLDE detector set-up
will incorporate a very compact and highly segmented silicon strip detector, which will
have to provide sucient angular and energy resolution to account for the Doppler-shift
broadening that will occur in the -spectra of the ions under investigation, due to their
decay in ight. In addition, a timing signal will have to be provided for each detected
ion as well. With this in mind, the Compact Disc detector design was developed to
supply sucient particle detection capabilities. In addition, an angular range of 10o -
40o at a distance of approximately 50mm from the target will have to be covered.
Technical Description
The CD detector is a segmented DSSSD device, which is composed of four quadrants,
as shown in Figure 1. The front of the CD consists of 16 annular p+ strips per quadrant
at 2mm pitch, while the back consists of 24 sector n+ strips at 3.5deg pitch. This results
in a total of 160 discrete detector elements. Consequently, information on the angular
distribution of particles, with
 = 3:5o and
 = 2:0o , can be extracted. The inter-
strip distance will be between 35m and 100m. The total area of the CD detector is
5000mm2 , of which approximately 93% is active.

Page 6
The thickness of the silicon wafer will be between 50 and 1000 having a dead layer of
0.3 - 0.8 aluminium. The thickness will depend on whether energy loss or total kinetic
energy measurement of the impinging particles is required. An energy loss detector in
combination with a stop detector will provide particle identication. Another possiblity
to achieve this, is to derive a timing signal from the CD detector to measure time-of-
ight with respect to the high frequency of the accelerator.
1111
0000
0000
1111
0000
1111
0000
1111
Pixel 0000
1111
0000
1111
0000
1111
0000
1111
0000
1111
0000
1111
0000
1111 15
0000
1111
0000
1111
00000000
11111111 1111111111111111111111111
0000000000000000000000000
00000000
11111111
0000000000000000000000000
1111111111111111111111111
000000000000000000000000
111111111111111111111111 0000000000000000000000000
1111111111111111111111111 85
000000000000000000000000
111111111111111111111111
111
000
000
111
000
111
000
111
000
111
000
111
000
111 42.5
000
111
000
111
2 000
111
000
111
000
111
000
111
Back Face o
Front Face
3.5

Figure 1: Schematic drawing of the CD detector

Electronics
Each signal from the CD detector strips will be fed into Edinburgh/RAL Preampli-
ers type RAL108. The signals from these preampliers will then be passed to Ed-
inburgh/RAL Shaping Ampliers to provide analog signals which re ect the deposited
energy. These signal will subsequently be fed into the analog-to-digital converters of
the REX-ISOLDE data acquisition system currently been discussed. In addition, Edin-
burgh/RAL Discriminators type RAL109, will be used to produce a timing signal.
Outlook
At the moment, the front-end instrumentation, which is capable to cope with the neces-
sary number of channels, is available and the CD detector design has been nalised. A
prototype of a single CD quadrant having a thickness of 300m has been ordered and
will be available in May this year. Tests of this quadrant prototype will be undertaken
this summer.
Alex Ostrowski

Page 7
The second in the series View from Abroad is written by Dr Con Beausang who recently
left the University of Liverpool to take up a position at Yale University.

News From the (ex)Colonies

The editor has asked me to be the the next foreign correspondent, to follow in the
footsteps of JFSS. No easy task, especially after a night spent at the Oxford Hotel.
Well here goes, the rst, and probably last, blast from The Wright Nuclear Structure
Laboratory in Yale University (things are Capitalized here big time)!
Having lived in the US for seven years as a graduate student and postdoc I did not expect
the level of culture shock that this latest move back across the pond entailed. I arrived
in Yale just in time for the end of the `World Series', sort of the American equivalent
of the Cup Final but played on several baseball elds over the course of several weeks.
Extend the agony seems to be the idea. Anyhow I rediscovered that American TV is so
poor that even baseball looks good after a while. I ended up rooting for the New York
Yankies (almost the local team), who soundly trashed the enemy (I forget who they
were, some team beginning with D, Denver perhaps). Anyway back to culture shock.
The TV is just as bad as ever, the shopping malls are still awful (every store has to have
a sale all the time), the locals are still as friendly as ever (when they are not shooting
you). We managed to rent a beach house for the winter (we get evicted at the end
of May). Great fun during the rst storm in September when three boats broke their
moorings in the wee hours and ended up on the beach. Two were rescued by crazy
locals (BIG waves), the third, a 30 foot launch, was wrecked. The people in Cornwall
have nothing on the local Hotchkiss Grove Wreckers Association!
I suppose that I should say a few words about physics, since it is the IOP Newsletter
and so on. Some of the local news. The Nuclear Physics Program at Yale (Capitals
again) is going though something of a revival at the moment (I hope). In addition to
the existing experimental and theoretical faculty, two new faculty have recently joined
the laboratory: the director Rick Casten and me. An oer is just about to be made to a
third person (no names mentioned), so we are an expanding group, a rare and wonderful
thing these days. There are currently three new post docs in the lab, Anna Wilson some
of you know (also ex-Liverpool) plus Markus Wilhelm, a wandering German from Koln,
and Ken Swarz an astrophysicist from Seatle. Three new postgraduate students have
recently joined the Nuclear Structure program and, in addition, we have two `visiting'
students from Clark University. Two senior (nal year) undergrad students are currently
nishing their senior projects with me. As I said, we are a growing, going concern.

Page 8
The machine (ESTU, tandem) works well. It's a pleasure not to have to deal with a
PAC, to have beam time scheduled almost on demand (one just has to wander down
the corridor and ask for it) and best of all to have the experiment down stairs. Currently
the machine doesn't have a full load of (insulating) gas and so the reliable operating
voltage is limited to somewhere in the mid 17 MV range. With a complete load of SF6
a voltage of 20-21 MV is reliably possible (apparently SF6 has gotten very expensive
recently, if anyone out there knows of a good source let me know). Almost any beam
that a tandem can accelerate is available. We have both a negative ion sputter and
dual plasmatron source. People who are interested can contact me for a complete list
of beams. As I type this (night shifts, why don't the students do them!) we are running
170 MeV 32 S, next week we will be killing the foils like mad by running lots of Ni at
350 MeV.
The apparatus for -ray spectroscopy is growing. We are currently building the YRAST
ball (Yale Rochester Array for SpecTroscopy is one possible interpretation). This will
consist of a medley of about 20 Compton suppressed coaxial Ge detectors, acquired
from a variety of sources, plus (initially) three new segmented Clover Ge detectors. The
mechanical support structure is in the shop now and is due to be installed in the -cave
before the upcoming Workshop. The Clovers have been ordered and should be delivered
over the summer. You can work out the eciency sums for yourselves, and I hope that
your answer comes to a nicely competitive number! A variety of ancillary detectors,
multiplicity lter, neutron detectors, charged particle detectors etc either exist or are in
a variety of stages of development.
Outside users are very welcome and encouraged. This is a university laboratory dedicated
to the training of students as well as the investigation of nuclear physics. With so much
new equipment coming together now is the ideal time to consider getting involved on
the ground oor, to help develop and build the experiments, rather than just showing
up and watching the tapes go around.
I mentioned The Workshop. We are hoping that some of you will join us here at Yale
on June 13 and 14 for a Workshop on `Nuclear Structure Physics Near the Coulomb
Barrier: Into the 21st Century' . The Workshop is contiguous with the nearby Gordon
Conference, so if traveling to the States anyway why not kill two birds with one stone
and also visit Yale. Those of you on the uk-users mailing list will have received the blurb
already. I hope that many of you will join us here and look forward to seeing you soon.
Con Beausang

Page 9
The Nuclear Physics Group Committee
The latest committee meeting was held at IoP headquarters on 30 January 1997. The
main points of discussion were as follows:
 Future of Divisions
The previous newsletter announced that there has been much discussion about the
future of IoP Divisions but the Chiarman reported that he had received a letter from Dr
Alun Jones (Chief Executive of the IoP) to say that Divisions would continue.
 Divisional Representatives
Dr Brian Fulton is shortly to step down as Chair of the NPP Division. The new Chair
would be a particle physicist with a nuclear physicist as secretary. The committee has
recommended that Dr Phil Woods be asked to ll the Divisional secretary's post.
 Burgeoning areas
The group had been asked by the IoP to supply information about some \burgeoning
areas" of physics, to give to the Technical Opportunities Panel (TOP) to convey the
excitement and opportunities in current UK nuclear physics research. Three items have
been sent to IoP, one on radioactive beams, another on halos and the third on the quark
structure of nuclei.
 York conference
Plans for the York Conference are going well. The nancial situation is looking healthy
since the budget was for 95 delegates and that number was likely to be exceeded. Ten
companies had so far agreed to exhibit at the conference with the possibility of a few
more. There will be a 10{15 minute slot for Professor Alan Shotter to say something
about NuPECC.
 Future conferences
The venues and formats of the next few annual nuclear physics conferences were dis-
cussed. These are:
1998 join with Congress in Brighton [16{19 March 1998]
1999 jointly with HEPP at Congress, possibly at Warwick
2000 jointly with North West Europe physical societies, in Bergen, Norway.
 Study weekends
Funding for the 1997 Study Weekend had already been approved but the chairman would
have to write to EPSRC to apply for funding for the following two years (98,99). Dr
Peter Butler (Liverpool) and Dr Sean Freeman (Manchester) have agreed to organise
this year's Study Weekend at Birmingham.

Page 10
 Summer school
Nottingham had been chosen as the venue for the 1997 National Postgraduate School
and was being organised by Dr Martin Freer (Birmingham) and Dr John Simpson
(CCLRC Daresbury). The Committee has agreed on a sum of $150 for prize money for
student talks.
 Half-day meetings
Dr Dave Ireland reported on the November 96 meeting held in Glasgow. While aware
of the geographical disadvantage he reported that the meeting had nevertheless been a
success. Dr Phil Walker reported on the Surrey meeting on radioactive beams. There
had been 7 talks and 70 attendees (see page 4). The next half-day meeting will be
held at Staordshire on the 25th June. A follow-up to the Surrey half-day meeting on
RNB applications is to be held in the Autumn. Manchester (through John Durell) have
agreed to organise it.

Shell model workshop at Brighton

Recently, a workshop on the shell model was held at the University of Brighton. It
was attended by 25 postgraduate students and post-docs from 6 dierent Universities.
Mr Luke Frankland (University of Brighton) gives his impression of the two days
of activities:
On the 17th and 18th March, a large number of nuclear physics researchers met at the
University of Brighton to attend a set of lectures and tutorials given by Dr Phil Halse
as an introduction to the shell model.
The programme began well with a quote from a leading pop-group usually found in the
desert. During the two days Phil outlined how the behaviour of nucleons in the nucleus
can be modelled by considering only the valence nucleons outside a closed core. The
workshop involved the participants in calculations of the basis states allowed in the case
of 6 valence particles and the use of these basis states to calculate eigenvalues and
eigenvectors for the low-lying states in 6 Li. The braver souls went on to show that the
so-called anomalous beta-decay in 14 C and 14 O can also be explained by the model.
The workshop proved very useful and a great deal was learned by all. Experimentalists
picked up vital bits of theory and rusty matrix algebra was honed. The participants were
very appreciative of Phil's eorts.
Luke Frankland

Page 11
 THE BACK PAGE
Latest news from EPSRC
John Durell has agreed to chair a small panel tasked with advising EPSRC on any
extension to the EPSRC/ANU agreement beyond March 1998. Full membership
details will be available soon. EPSRC will be seeking submissions to the panel from
the UK community and ANU on achievements and benets arising from the agreement
to date, and on future opportunities. It is expected the panel will report by September.
EPSRC has agreed to partially lift with immediate eect the embargo on proposals
that was placed at the time of the 1996 NP Call. Small Visiting Fellowships (<20K)
and fast stream proposals have been exempt, but all standard grants and larger VFs
may now be submitted under EPSRC's Responsive Mode. Proposals for the award or
renewal of Special Grants (Rolling and Revisable) remain embargoed until the
announcement of the next call, which will be made in 1998 to coincide with the
October 1998 review dates. The Call will also be open to standard grant proposals
that could be submitted in Responsive Mode. Nuclear physics proposals submitted
under Responsive Mode will be refereed in accordance with standard Physics
Programme practice using the Physics College and prioritised by a Physics
Prioritisation Panel considering proposals from throughout the programme. A nuclear
physics specic panel will be convened to deal with the Call. As part of the 1998 Call,
EPSRC will take steps towards the end of 1997 to consult the community on
refreshing the scientic priorities used in the 1996 Call, which were based on
recommendations by the Shotter Review.
Increasing connectivity between physicists and their user communities was an
important element of the recently approved Physics Programme Business Plan. One of
the mechanisms to be employed to achieve this is the concept of "Industry Focus"
meetings, covering specic areas within the Physics Programme, where a select group
of researchers and industrialists are brought together in a seminar style framework to
discuss issues of common interest, potential and future opportunity. The rst meeting
in the series is to be on nuclear physics and will take place in Manchester over the 8th
and 9th of May. Broad themes for the seminar sessions are detector/sensor and data
handling/ imaging technologies followed by applications in biology/medicine and harsh
environments. To scope both the size (maximum 40 people) and content of the
meeting to t its objectives, attendance has to be limited. Please don't feel upset if
you are not invited!!

Neil Williams
Programme Manager, Nuclear Physics
EPSRC