Minutes from the ISOLDE Physics Group meeting on June 3rd, 2015
No comments to the minutes of the PG meeting held last week.
 

Technical news
• HRS:
o The new UCX target coupling failed and caused a target vacuum leak after an error
programming the robot. The front end was undamaged and the target could be
repaired.
o Users found a faraday cup blocking the beam after the CC0-RC0 switchyard. It was found
disconnected from the diagnostic boxes and missing a compressed air tube. It is now
locked out of the beamline.
o The coordinator reminds the users that they should check visually the movement of
faraday cups towards their beamlines, as the software does not provide any feedback
on their mechanical insertion.
o The HRS NMR probes can stop reading the magnetic field at times. Short interruptions,
approximately a minute, self-recover. If the cycling problem stays for longer, please call
the operator.
o The faraday cup that was exchanged before ISCOOL started leaking. Patched with silicon
spray before a repair take place in the class A lab
o Users observed that the yield of the new target stays constant for only 2 proton pulses/
supercycle, but it decays at nominal proton intensity with a 10 min constant, recovering
at the same rate after stopping protons. (Update as of Friday, this effect is not observed
with protons on neutron converter, showing that the problem is connected to target
heating with the protons.).
o RILIS team confirmed an isotope shift effect in the new Mn ionization scheme. Changing
laser frequency increased the 63Mn yield 3-4 times and expect to improve 68Mn yield
by factor 10.

• GPS:
o During Mn collections in GLM/GHM a large sudden decrease was observed on the
weekend. It was pinpointed to the drift of one of the RILIS lasers. The RILIS automatic
stabilization system did not work due to the similar frequencies of the lasers were tuned
to. The system has been now improved to solve this problem.
• The last RC2 steerer was put on standby by users. It was grounded after realizing that the
standby mode left the quadrupole floating at 200 V, which affected the beam downstream.
• The group leader asks the users to note all the beam diagnostics and vacuum problems in the
logbook so they can be brought to Richard Catherall. Please send a summary to Magda, as well.
• The beam engineering group has been reminded that updates of the INCA control software
must be done exclusively between beams for physics runs, never during beamtime periods.
• The He gas leak tester is being tested for radioactive contamination before being sent for
repairs.
• The cooling procedure of the HIE-ISOLDE cryomodule started on Thursday.
Schedule
• Please find the weekly releases in http://isolde.web.cern.ch/experiments/schedules/weekly-schedule
• The second part of the schedule was released last Friday. It can be downloaded at
http://isolde.web.cern.ch/isolde-schedule
• A two week negative ions test run will be held in the 1st two weeks of July.
• Jenny will be away on 9-­31 July. For experiments running in July please contact her well in
advance, if needed.

B508
• Users report that the ventilation system in all of 508 does not work.
• The new phones have been installed in 508. The numbers are:

• 1st floor:
  • DAQ room 508/1-005 : 63281
  • ISOLTRAP room 508/1­‐009 : 63284
  • Decay setup room 508/1­‐011 : 63283
• Ground floor:
  • SSP laser lab 508/R-001 : 63286
  • Collaps daq room 508/R­‐003 : 63288
  • Collaps laser room 508/R-‐005 : 63287
  • SSP lab 508/R­‐008 : 63292
  • CRIS laser lab 508/R­‐009 : 63289
  • CRIS DAQ room 508/R-­013 : 63290
• The ground floor door inside the fence broke last week. To be repaired soon. Ticket open.

AOB
‐The next meeting date and time are pending to be announced. There will not be a seminar next week.

Minutes taken by MMF