ISOLDE
Perturbed angular correlations at ISOLDE
Solid state physics and biophysics research has been conducted at ISOLDE-CERN for almost 50 years [JOH2017]. Our role in supporting experimental equipment and manpower has enabled the development of on-site laboratories. This has several advantages…
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Investigating exotic structures of exotic nuclei with Miniball
Atomic nuclei come in all manner of shapes and sizes, sometimes at the same time! The reason behind this diversity lies in poorly understood nuclear forces. Many features of these forces only came to light when studying very unstable nuclei, which…
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Radioactive ion beams at ISOLDE bring the nuclear clock a tick closer
The precise measurement of time and frequencies has always played an important role in the history of science. Since the adoption of the caesium-133 standard as the definition of the second within the Système International (SI) in 1967, a network of…
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The LISA project at CERN-ISOLDE
The LISA (Laser Ionisation and Spectroscopy of Actinides) consortium aims to train a new generation of experts in radioactive ion beam research and applications, laser spectroscopy, scientific laser…
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ISOLDE's Solenoidal Spectrometer (ISS): a new tool for studying exotic nuclei
The majority of atomic nuclei exist away from the valley of beta-stability, so it is perhaps unsurprising that in studying them nuclear physicists have discovered emerging phenomena not seen in stable nuclei. Changing shell structure, evolving…
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The many faces of ISOLDE
You will stand across the street from the ISOLDE facility, when visiting CERN’s medical center, fire fighters, raw materials store, transport teams, or goods reception service. Located centrally at the Meyrin site (https://videos.cern.ch/record/…
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ISOLDE determines precise nuclear moments by devising novel experimental technique
Nuclear quadrupole moments (Q), a measure of charge asymmetry in nuclei, are experimentally accessible via the quadrupole interaction frequency νQ=eQVzz/h. To extract Q from this information one needs to know Vzz, the electric-field gradient at the…
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Secrets of beta decay unraveled at ISOLDE
Ernest Rutherford, in 1899, separated radioactive emissions into two types: alpha and beta. Becquerel, in 1900, measured the mass-to-charge ratio of beta particles and identified them as electrons. The theory of β decay was developed by Fermi in…
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Pinpointing the structure of the SnV centre in diamond using emission channelling at ISOLDE
Diamond – beyond its allure as a jewel – exhibits an array of unique physical characteristics such as its hardness, the highest room thermal conductivity of any material (while being electrically insulating when undoped); it can also be doped to…
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Exotic radioactive molecules could reveal physics beyond the Standard Model
The first spectroscopic study of radium monofluoride (RaF) suggests that these radioactive molecules can be used to perform high precision tests of the Standard Model of particle physics. The study was done at ISOLDE, CERN’s radioactive beam…
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