MRI Consortium: Development of a Charged Particle Telescope by Undergraduate Research Students for Studies of Exotic Nuclei

确定原子核素的性质需要测量这种核素发射的粒子。由于这些粒子的性质不同，检测这些粒子与其他发射的辐射或粒子，如伽马射线、中子和带电粒子是困难的。一种新的带电粒子探测器系统将使需要一起检测这些粒子的实验更加有效，用于在国家超导回旋实验室(NSCL)和即将在密歇根州立大学(MSU)的稀有同位素束设施(FRIB)进行的实验。此外，该设备的开发和组装将为奥古斯塔纳学院、瓦巴什学院和希望学院(小型、仅限本科生的文科院校)的本科生提供宝贵的培训，这将有助于他们为研究生院做好准备。这项奖励的资金将支持本科生和主要研究人员购买、测试和安装新的实验探测器系统，用于NSCL和FRIB。在奇异核系统上的实验经常在中子滴线或附近进行，以探测核结构的变化。最直接的实验类型包括探测单个中子和带电粒子，这些粒子是由核素从非中子结合状态衰变而产生的。然而，带电碎片可能处于束缚激发态，导致伽马射线发射，例如对于F-25和Be-13的一些非束缚中子态。因此，需要对伽马射线、中子和带电粒子进行有效的符合检测。这项提议支持购买、开发和安装紧凑型带电粒子探测器望远镜，该望远镜将提供有效的伽马射线、中子和带电粒子探测的平衡。该系统将安装在密歇根州立大学(MSU)的国家超导回旋实验室(NSCL)，因为需要一个放射性核离子束设施来生产用于实验的短期核素。带电粒子探测器望远镜将探测带电粒子，允许中子以最小的衰减通过，然后被Mona-Lisa(模块化中子阵列和大面积多机构闪烁体阵列)探测，并允许使用NSCL已有的紧凑系统进行伽马射线探测。此外，该设备还将用于稀有同位素束设施(FRIB)。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Determining the properties of atomic nuclides requires the measurement of particles emitted by this nuclide. Detecting these particles in coincidence with other emitted radiation or particles, such as gamma-rays, neutrons, and charged particles, is difficult due to their different properties. A new charged particle detector system will make experiments requiring detection of these particles together more efficient for experiments performed at facilities such as the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) and soon the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) at Michigan State University (MSU). Also, the development and assembly of this device will provide invaluable training for undergraduate students at Augustana College, Wabash College, and Hope College (small, undergraduate-only, liberal arts institutions), which will help prepare them for graduate school. The funds for this award will support the work of undergraduate students and the primary investigator to purchase, test, and install the new experimental detector system for the use at the NSCL and FRIB.Experiments on exotic nuclear systems are frequently performed at or near the neutron drip-line to probe changes in nuclear structure. The most straightforward type of experiment involves detecting a single neutron and charged particle resulting from a nuclide decaying from a neutron-unbound state. However, the charged fragment may be in a bound excited state resulting in gamma-ray emission, such as for some neutron-unbound states of F-25 and Be-13. Thus efficient coincident detection of gamma-rays, neutrons, and charged particles is desired. This proposal supports the purchase, development, and installation of a compact charged particle detector telescope that will provide a balance of efficient gamma-ray, neutron, and charged particle detection. This system will be installed at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) at Michigan State University (MSU), as a radioactive nuclear ion beam facility is needed to produce short-lived nuclides for experimentation. The charged particle detector telescope will detect the charged particle, allow the neutron to pass through with minimal attenuation to then be detected by the MoNA-LISA (Modular Neutron Array and the Large-area multi-Institutional Scintillator Array), and allow gamma-ray detection using compact systems already at the NSCL. Also, this device will also be available for use at Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.