Future plans at ISOLDE

Abstract

The CERN ISOLDE facility has operated for over 30 years delivering beams of exotic ions to an ever-growing user community. The facility went through a major up-grade in the early 1990s with the move from the 600 MeV synchrocyclotron to the 1 GeV PS-Booster proton synchrotron. This was followed by a primary proton beam energy up grade to 1.4 GeV in 1999. Lately, an important step forward was taken with the start of the REX-ISOLDE experiment for charge breeding and post-acceleration of exotic ions. CERN has recently decided on a consolidation project for the facility to assure that the required number of shifts can be delivered in the future. An overview will be given of the on-going consolidation and development programme and its implications on the physics programme, in particular the REX-ISOLDE post-accelerator experiment. An important parameter for a better yield of very exotic elements is the primary proton beam intensity, beam energy and time structure. The possible short-term improvements of, in particular, beam intensity will be discussed in some detail. While the main effort at CERN today goes towards the completion of the LHC, some resources have been found for accelerator R&D. A possible project is a new high intensity proton source at CERN, the superconducting proton linac, which could open the door to the construction of a next generation radioactive beam facility. The possible primary beam characteristics and some design considerations and their implications for such a facility will be discussed. Some ideas for the facility itself, such as the use of antiprotons and muons as new probes, production of a neutrino beam from stored radioactive ions and a preliminary design for a low energy storage ring, will be presented.