SECONDARY EXOTIC NUCLEAR BEAMS

One of the new directions in nuclear science is the exploitation of beams of exotic nuclei. This field has grown tremendously in the past few years owing to considerable progress in the production and isotopic separation of secondary beams. This article summarizes the methods of radioactive ion production, the techniques used in isotope separation, and the scientific frontiers of this field. The production methods of secondary beams range from Coulomb barrier reactions to reactions at relativistic energies. New advances in high-intensity and high-energy accelerator facilities and new efficient separators based on the on-line separation and the in-flight methods have increased secondary beam intensity and selectivity. The combination of cooler and storage devices with a separator has opened a new field for experiments and applications.