Tilted Foils Nuclear Spin Polarization at REX-ISOLDE

Doctoral thesis, 2013

This thesis will explain and summarize my work and involvement in experiments aimed at producing nuclear spin polarization of post-accelerated beams of ions with the tilted-foils technique at the REX-ISOLDE linear accelerator at CERN. Polarizing the nuclear spin of radioactive beams in particular may provide access to observables which may be difficult to obtain otherwise. Currently, the techniques commonly employed for nuclear spin polarization are restricted to specific nuclides and experimental measurement techniques. Tilted foils polarization may provide a new tool to extend the range of nuclides that can be polarized and the types of experiments that can be performed. The experiments rely not only on the production but also on the method to measure the degree of attained polarization. Two methods will be treated, based on particle scattering in Coulomb excitation that may be utilized for stable beams, and the beta-NMR that requires beta-decaying nuclei. The experimental setups and measurements will be described with interpretation of collected data and final results. Experiments have already been proposed utilizing the setup developed for this project. Furthermore, since the tilted foils polarization technique may be a tool to produce a new range of polarized beams at the upcoming HIE-ISOLDE facility, and is most efficient with low energy beams, post-acceleration of the beam is of major interest. Reaching the intermediary energy range after post-acceleration may allow Coulomb excitation and transfer experiments to use polarized beams of exotic isotopes. The thesis will conclude with initial studies for post-acceleration at the HIE-ISOLDE linac.