HIE-ISOLDE

HIE-ISOLDE
Name	HIE-ISOLDE
Location	CERN, Meyrin, Switzerland
Established	2015 (upgrade completion)
Research field	Nuclear physics, Radioactive ion beams, Nuclear astrophysics
Director	CERN Directorate
Website	CERN

HIE-ISOLDE

HIE-ISOLDE is a major upgrade programme at CERN located in Meyrin that enhanced the capabilities of the ISOLDE radioactive ion beam facility. The project extended the facility's superconducting linac and upgraded beam transport, target stations, and experimental stations to deliver higher-energy, higher-intensity, and higher-quality beams for nuclear, atomic, and applied research. HIE-ISOLDE interfaces with international collaborations and leverages technologies developed for other accelerators and laboratories.

Overview

The upgrade integrated superconducting quarter-wave resonators inspired by developments at CERN, Paul Scherrer Institute, GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, TRIUMF, GANIL, and RIKEN to raise post-accelerator energies. It served user communities including researchers from University of Cambridge, University of Manchester, University of Oslo, Lund University, KU Leuven, Universität Bern, and Stockholm University. The programme aligned with strategic roadmaps from bodies such as the European Strategy for Particle Physics, European Research Council, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, Science and Technology Facilities Council, and national funding agencies. HIE-ISOLDE enabled experiments connected to phenomena studied at facilities like Large Hadron Collider, ISOLDE Decay Station, ALPHA, ISOLTRAP, and MINIBALL.

History and Development

Planning drew on experience from pioneering projects at CERN, ISOLDE Laboratory, ISOLDE Working Group, EuroISOL, SPIRAL2, and EURISOL. Initial design reviews referenced accelerator technology validated at DESY, INFN, IHEP, Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Construction phases coordinated with procurement from firms and institutes including Oxford Instruments, Thales Group, Cryogenic Engineering Ltd., CEA Saclay, and STFC Daresbury Laboratory. Commissioning overlapped with operations at ISOLDE Target and Ion Source Development Group and testing with detectors developed by collaborations around CERN Detector Technology Group, Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, Argonne National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Accelerator and Beamline Upgrades

The upgrade replaced room-temperature modules with superconducting resonators patterned after work at CEA, DESY, GSI, and JLab. Cryomodules, cryogenics, and RF systems incorporated components also used at European XFEL, SPS, PS Booster, and HIE-ISOLDE cryomodule test stand. Beam dynamics and optics benefitted from studies carried out with codes and teams from CERN Accelerator Beam Physics Group, ORNL, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, and CERN BE Department. Ion-source and target interfaces were improved in collaboration with ISOLDE Target Development Group, TRIUMF ISAC, and GANIL SPIRAL experts to manage isotopes produced via reactions studied at JYFL, GSI FRIB collaborations, and Michigan State University. Beam transport upgrades connected to beamlines serving setups related to ISOLDE Solenoidal Spectrometer, HIE-ISOLDE REX post-accelerator, and interfaces familiar to users from ISOLDE Decay Station, COLLAPS, and CERN-ISOLDE Radiochemistry groups.

Experimental Setup and Instrumentation

Experimental halls host arrays of instrumentation developed jointly with groups from CERN Detector Technology Group, University of Liverpool, University of Jyväskylä, KVI-CART, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, and University of Groningen. Detectors and spectrometers draw on designs from MINIBALL, T-REX, WISArD, ENSAR2, and SOLARIS programmes. The facility supports mass spectrometry work comparable to ISOLTRAP and decay spectroscopy analogous to setups at GSI, GANIL, and TRIUMF. Radiation instrumentation and electronics development involved collaborations with CERN Microelectronics Group, INFN, CEA, and National Physical Laboratory. Sample preparation and radiochemistry used protocols adopted from CEA Saclay radiochemistry, CERN Radioprotection, and JRC Karlsruhe.

Scientific Research and Applications

Research encompassed nuclear structure studies connected to isotopes of interest at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Heidelberg University, Université de Strasbourg, University of Edinburgh, and University of Warsaw. Experiments probed nucleosynthesis pathways relevant to theories advanced at Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Institute of Physics (Czech Academy) and compared data with models from FRIB theory groups, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and GSI Theory Division. Applied research included materials science collaborations with European Space Agency, CERN Medical Applications, Karolinska Institutet, University of Oxford Department of Materials, and ETH Zurich for radiobiology and medical isotope production. Studies on fundamental symmetries linked to experiments at CERN Antiproton Decelerator, ALPHA Collaboration, KATRIN, and nEDM projects.

Collaboration and Organization

The upgrade was coordinated by teams from CERN, ISOLDE Collaboration, European Union Horizon 2020, STFC, National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), Instituto Superior Técnico, FOM Netherlands, and funding agencies across Switzerland, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, and Belgium. Governance structures followed models used by Large Hadron Collider Collaborations, with user access procedures akin to those at DESY, TRIUMF, GSI, and RIKEN. Training and outreach involved partnerships with universities including University College London, Imperial College London, Technical University of Munich, Politecnico di Milano, and Universität Zürich and networks like CERN Summer Student Programme and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.

Safety and Environmental Considerations

Radiation protection and waste management adhered to standards referenced by International Atomic Energy Agency, European Commission radiation protection directives, Swiss Federal Office of Public Health, Agence nationale de sécurité sanitaire, and UK Health and Safety Executive. Cryogenics and superconducting systems used safety frameworks comparable to those at European XFEL and ITER projects. Environmental impact assessments referenced methodologies from CERN Environmental Protection Group, OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, and regional authorities in Vernier and Geneva.