SPIRAL
SPIRAL, the first installation ever built in France to produce and accelerate exotic nuclei, today delivers beams that are unique in the world. The international community uses this facility to carry out entirely new experiments with an impressive wealth of results.
SPIRAL, (which stands for Système de Production d'Ions Radioactifs Accélérés en Ligne, or System for Producing Online Accelerated Radioactive Ions) is the combination of a target-source assembly and a particle accelerator, CIME (Cyclotron pour Ions de Moyenne Energie, or Cyclotron for Ions of Medium Energy). This system produces light exotic nuclei up to mass 90, and accelerates them to nearly a quarter the speed of light.
SPIRAL 2 will provide access to heavier nuclei and will multiply the number of exotic nuclei produced by several orders of magnitude.
The target-source Assembly
The very high intensity beams of stable nuclei accelerated by the three cascaded cyclotrons at GANIL are smashed onto a carbon target. Exotic nuclei are thus produced by the billions. After they exit the target, these synthetic atoms are stripped of their electrons by the ion source.
The CIME Post-accelerator
After they have been sorted and assembled into beams, these exotic nuclei are then accelerated up to nearly a quarter the speed of light by the CIME cyclotron. Today, SPIRAL delivers beams of exotic nuclei of outstanding quality, which are as reliable and accurate as GANIL's stable ion beams.
The experimental areas
The exotic nuclei are deviated to various experimental areas, where they produce new reactions within the matter of a second target. To detect the resulting radiation, specific detectors such as VAMOS and EXOGAM have been built through extensive international collaborations. The secrets of this exotic matter can thus be revealed.
