Tokai radioactive accelerate complex (TRIAC) was a facility which enabled us to perform experiments using short-lived nuclei produced by nuclear reactions, such as fission of uranium. We aimed at studying properties of nuclei themselves which don't exist naturally and employing short-lived nuclei as a probe for material science. From 2005 to 2010, TRIAC had been open for users in KEK Tokai campus. KEK isotope separation system (KISS) facility is beeing developed for studying the origin of heavy elements, such as gold and platinum, which are considered to be produced in explosive astronomical environments like supernovae.
Summary
The TRIAC facility had been developed to separate short-lived nuclei produced by nuclear reactions such as a uranium fission and to accelerate them up to 1.1 mega electron volts per nucleon. From 2005 to 2012, domestic and foreign researchers used the TRIAC and the total number of them was over 200 per year. We studied various nuclear reactions involving short-lived nuclei to understand evolutional processes of stars and developed nondestructive methods to evaluate candidates for the electrode materials of the lithium ion cells. After the shutdown of the TRIAC facility, most of the TRIAC were transferred to Republic of Korea and they will be used for pioneering study in the research field of short-lived nuclei.
The KISS has been designed to pursue especially astronomical origins of heavy element syntheses by means of the experiments of short-lived nuclei based on the research expertise at the TRIAC. Rare short-lived nuclei which are difficult to be produced by high-energy fragmentation reactions will be generated by using multi-nucleon transfer reactions between heavy ion beams and targets which have large mass numbers. The nuclei will be selected by their atomic numbers and mass numbers. The properties of beta decays of the reaction products will be measured. The laser resonance ionization technique is used to choose the atomic number and the electromagnetic field is utilized to select the mass number.
A new apparatus called argon gas-catcher is installed to stop and transport efficiently rare reaction products to ionization region keeping them as neutral atoms. Using this facility, we are going to obtain astrophysical conditions such as temperatures and neutron densities for synthesizing heavy elements around us, especially gold and platinum. Construction of the KISS was finished at the end of 2012. The KISS will be open for users from 2014.and mass numbers. The properties of beta decays of the reaction products will be measured.
The laser resonance ionization technique is used to choose the atomic number and the electromagnetic field is utilized to select the mass number. A new apparatus called argon gas-catcher is adopted to stop and transport efficiently rare reaction products to ionization region keeping them as neutral atoms. Using the facility, we are going to obtain astrophysical conditions, such as temperatures and neutron densities, for synthesizing heavy elements around us, especially gold and platinum. The construction of the KISS was finished at the end of 2012.
The KISS will be open for users from 2014.
