After years of anticipation, the CAlifornium Rare Isotope Breeder Upgrade (CARIBU) facility is now born. The CARIBU facility was constructed to meet the increasing demand for rare neutron-rich ion beams to investigate the properties of neutron-rich nuclei which were previously unattainable. Using a source of 252Cf, the CARIBU facility efficiently collects the spontaneous fission fragments in a novel gas catcher device developed at Argonne. The fission-fragmentions are then extracted from the gas catcher and are mass-separated and either delivered to a low-energy experimental area, or charge bred with a modified ECR source and subsequently reaccelerated by the Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System (ATLAS) facility. Properties of hundreds of these neutron-rich nuclides are now being (or soon to be) investigated using ion traps, decay stations, and the suite of experimental equipment available at ATLAS, including the HELical Orbit Spectrometer (HELIOS), Gammasphere and the Fragment Mass Analyzer (FMA).
For this colloquium, I will provide a description of the CARIBU facility following a brief historical motivation for its construction. I will then highlight some of the first results from the various experiments which are taking advantage of the rare neutron-rich ion beams that are now available.
Argonne Physics Division Colloquium Schedule