We propose the development of a new generation of an integrated ion source system for the production of very pure radioactive ion beams at low energy, including isomeric beams. This ion source is also, in its own right, an experimental tool for laser spectroscopy. The Rare Elements in-Gas Laser Ion Source and Spectroscopy device will be installed at the S3 spectrometer, currently under construction as part of the SPIRAL-2 facility at the GANIL laboratory in Caen. Thus, REGLIS3 will be a source for the production of new and pure radioactive ion beams at low energy as well as a spectroscopic tool to measure nuclear hyperfine interactions, giving access to charge radii, electromagnetic moments and nuclear spins of exotic nuclei so far not studied. It consists of a gas cell in which the heavy-ion beam coming from S3 will stopped and neutralized, coupled to a laser system that assures a selective re-ionisation of the atoms of interest. Ionization can be performed in the gas cell or in the gas jet streaming out of the cell. A radiofrequency quadrupole is added to capture the photo-ions and to guide them to the low-pressure zone thereby achieving good emittance of the produced low-energy beam that will be sent to a standard measurement station. Owing to the unique combination of such a device with the radioactive heavy ion beams from S3, a new realm of unknown isotopes at unusual isospin (N/Z ratio, refered to as exotic isotopes) will become accessible. The scientific goals focus on the study of ground-state properties of the N=Z nuclei up to the doubly-magic 100Sn and those of the very heavy and superheavy elements even beyond fermium. Once routine operation is achieved the beams will be used by a new users community as e.g. decay studies and mass measurements. The goal of the proposal is to develop this new, efficient, and universal source for pure, even isomeric, beams and for pioneering high-resolution laser spectroscopy that will overcome the present experimental constraints to study very exotic nuclei.

The OASIS project aims at optimizing the science production of the Advanced GAmma-ray Tracking Array (AGATA) gamma-ray spectrometer. Presently installed at the Grand Accélérateur National d'Ions Lourds (GANIL) at Caen, France, AGATA has passed the demonstrator phase of its early implementation (15 high-purity germanium detectors) and now contains 32 such detectors with infrastructure to accommodate 45 detectors covering 1pi of solid angle. AGATA is a new generation gamma-ray spectrometer designed to overcome the inherent limitation of the previous generation of Compton suppressed HPGe detector arrays. By replacing the Anti-Compton shields, which occupy a significant amount of solid angle, with HPGe detectors solid angle converage, and hence efficiency, can be increased. However, for this approach to produce high quality gamma-ray spectra an alternative Compton suppression technique has to be developed. This is gamma-ray tracking: The energy and position of individual gamma-ray interaction points inside the HPGe is determined using highly segmented detectors combined with digital electronics and pulse-shape analysis. These interaction points are then tested for the hypotheses that they belong to a fully absorbed gamma ray. For the gamma-ray tracking to work the gamma-ray interaction points have to be located to within 5 mm inside the detectors. A very important additional increase in performance comes from the very high effective angular granulation of AGATA given by knowing the interaction positions giving very good Doppler Correction capabilities, something very important in modern experimental nuclear structure research. Because of the high performance of AGATA it is considered a very important detector for the future and present nuclear structure research facilities in Europe, such as FAIR, HIE-ISOLDE, SPES, and SPIRAL2. Since the first physics campaign with AGATA started has showed its high performance in experimental situation where the sensitivity is dominated by the Doppler broadening of the gamma-ray peaks, for high-count rate situations, and when it is beneficial to have a very compact gamma-ray spectrometer - AGATA has proven the be a technical success in many ways. During the work analyzing experimental data the AGATA collaboration, and the gamma-ray tracking community, has however seen that the performance of AGATA in terms of Compton suppression from the gamma-ray tracking is not what simulations suggests it should be. It is believed in the gamma-ray tracking community that cause for this is related to problems with the pulse-shape analysis. Although the nominal position resolution from the pulse-shape analysis is within the required limits several indications points to that the pulse-shape analysis does not perform as good as is needed. The OASIS project aims at carefully investigating the reasons for this using computer simulations to try to reproduce and understand the deficiencies seen in experimental data. One particular problem that will be addressed within the OASIS project is that of correctly determining the number of actual interaction that a gamma-ray has had with the AGATA.Several novel ideas are to be investigated. Finally, many aspects of analyzing -ray spectroscopy data have to be reviewed when using AGATA. This mainly comes from the fact that there is more detailed information to look at offering new possibilities. What was previously simple calibration procedures using source data, such as efficiency calibrations, now has complex dependencies on the experimental situation and choices made for the gamma-ray tracking algorithms. Other methods, e.g. to determine angular correlations and distributions, also need to be developed specifically for gamma-ray tracking. A part of OASIS is dedicated to this work, making sure that the gamma-ray tracking community will have thoroughly tested and quantified procedures.

Novel radio-isotopes are important in nuclear medicine to increase possibilities of imaging/therapies, and to better personalize treatments to the different patients. Their development is strongly constrained by the possibility of producing them in sufficient quantity with high chemical and isotopic purity. TTRIP will take the opportunity of an efficient isotope separator for the production of very pure stable Gd-155 as precursor of Tb-155, which in turn is used for SPECT imaging as one of the Tb quadruplet theranostic isotopes. Characterization of this precursor and its irradiation to produce Tb-155 will complete this proof-of-concept experiment. Parametric studies will then be done to find optimal conditions of this whole process of production. In parallel, a bifunctional chelator will be designed and bioconjugated to monoclonal antibodies and nanobodies. The sought bioconjugates should be able to withstand mild 155Tb labeling conditions to avoid the denaturation of the biological vector.

This proposal aims at performing the most sensitive search for exotic tensor type interactions contributing to the weak interaction involving the lightest quarks. The observation of such contributions would provide a signature for new physics beyond the standard electroweak model whereas their non-observation will provide the tightest constraints on the couplings associated with those interactions. The search will be performed through high precision measurements of the full beta-energy spectrum in the decay of 6He nuclei. The main instrumental effect which has precluded these measurements to be performed so far, associated with the back-scattering of beta particles on detectors, is eliminated by improving and implementing calorimetric techniques in which the active volume of particle detectors fully enclose the decay source.

For numerous cancers, alpha emitters are particularly promising since they lead to a high treatment efficiency while sparing the surrounding healthy tissues. The REPARE project aims at bringing together research laboratories strongly involved in the field to develop new technologies in order to optimize production methods of innovative radioelements for nuclear medicine and more specifically for targeted alpha therapy. We propose to study and develop high power target systems able to exploit the very high beam intensities soon delivered by the linear accelerator of SPIRAL2. This would be used to synthesize the astatine-211 alpha emitter (used as a case study), to design a continuous online extraction system in the case of a liquid target, and to envisage the design of a radon/astate prototype generator allowing an optimal use of the astatine produced in the beta decay of radon. To achieve these objectives, it is planned to measure the production cross-sections of the harmful contaminants 210At and 209,210Po in the alpha and 6,7Li-induced reactions on bismuth targets as well as on lead-bismuth eutectic mixtures. These cross-section measurements will in part be essential in determining the suitability of high-power target designs. Two different types of design will be studied in detail: a rotating solid target system using convection and conduction cooling, and an ambitious liquid target system with an online extraction system of the produced 211At. In the case of direct production of astatine, hydro- and thermo-dynamical calculations will be carried out by the experts of the field that are present in our partnership in order to propose a solution that will also include the design of the system extracting the astatine from the irradiated targets. A prototype will be manufactured and tested in-beam. Feasibility studies will first be performed to identify any potential difficulties associated with the design of the liquid target. This includes aspects of beam characteristics, choice of target material and container, as well as cooling constraints. As a result of this work, thermal calculations and prototype design will be carried out. A continuous and on-line extraction system of the 211At will be proposed. The constraints associated to safety and radiation protection, particularly in the GANIL basic nuclear facility, will be addressed. The final aspect of this project concerns the indirect production of astatine-211, i.e. the study of 211At production by beta decay of 211Rn produced in lithium-induced reactions and having a half-life approximately twice as long as that of astatine, allowing a much more extended distribution range and a more appropriate use of 211At compared to the classical way. For this, studies of radon trapping in nano / microporous materials and optimization of experimental parameters will be performed. When possible, modeling of the collected data will also be done. The choice of material for the optimal elution of 211At from the point of view of its future use in clinical trials is critical and will be studied in detail. Lithium beam irradiation tests will be carried out with SPIRAL2. For this project as a whole, the TGIR GANIL grants a beam day per month of operation of SPIRAL2. Experiments will also be proposed and realized at ARRONAX and GANIL. The partnership built for this innovative project is composed of internationally recognized experts in their field of expertise: nuclear physics, use of particle beam, design of high power targets, thermal calculations, radiochemistry.