A low energy storage ring for partly stripped radioactive ions Original Research Article

Storage rings are well established for the study of stable nuclei with many facilities operating world wide. Radioactive nuclei are being studied in storage rings at GSI and major upgrades are planned to this facility including two new storage rings. The production method at GSI, in-flight, results in fully stripped ions with large transverse and longitudinal emittance. We have studied the possibility of injecting ISOL beams into a storage ring. While the two production methods are considered to be complementary considering the elements that can be produced, the ISOL method yields higher intensities and cooler beams. Furthermore, as the ISOL beam is produced with low kinetic beam energies the beam can be further cooled with e.g. an RFQ cooler. Cool beams will simplify the injection process and result in very bright beams ideally suited for reaction studies and for the more exotic production of e.g. anti-protonic atoms through the so called merging beam method.