Present: J. Billowes, K. Blaum, P. Butler (Chairman), L.M. Fraile, M.J. García Borge,       M. Huyse, A. Jokinen, M. Lindroos (for points 1 to 4), D. Lunney, T. Nilsson, A. Di Pietro and K. Riisager

1. Introductory remarks by the chairman

Peter Butler opened the meeting and announced the agenda.

2. Approval of the minutes from the last meeting

The minutes from the last ISCC meeting were approved.

3. Technical developments and AB department news

The ISOLDE technical coordinator reported on the technical activities at the ISOLDE facility during the shutdown and the complicated start-up (see transparencies).

Maintenance work on all main ISOLDE subsystems has been performed, but one third of the lowest priority tasks remain to be done. The work was particularly delayed in the case of vacuum systems and front-ends. A large part of the work has been the completion and commissioning of the “class A” laboratory for target handling. The GPS and HRS separator areas have become primary zones. The GPS switchyard diverting the beam to the central and short (GLM, GHM) beamlines has been repaired during the shutdown. After re-installation, a short-circuit appeared, causing the scheduled off-line runs on GPS to be cancelled. The problem was solved, but a collimator at the exit of the switchyard was inadvertently bent during the re-installation of the GLM deflector plates. This was severely limiting the transmission to the experimental setups and was only found and repaired during the first GPS online physics run. The technical maintenance and upgrades at REX-ISOLDE include the replacement of the REX-EBIS cathode, the modification of the amplifier for the REX-LINAC 9-gap resonator and new controls for the LINAC power supplies and amplifiers.

The target and ion source development programme continues, in particular concerning the operation of a MiniMono ECR ion source, the modification and operation of a Kinetic-Ejection Negative Ion Source (KENIS) for light halogen beams, the prototyping of a bivalve target, the development of new mass markers for alkalis and the measurement of effective surface of targets materials. A new RILIS ionization scheme for Au has been developed. The lower limit for the ionization efficiency is measured to be 3%. The RILIS ionization efficiency for Hg has also been measured off-line to be 0.1%. The polarity of the GPS line voltage was reversed for the negative ion source tests at the end of 2005 and was not put back to normal polarity for the first run. The GPS yields and release of RILIS ionized isotopes were affected. This was not noticed until after the first two on-line experiments took place.

The planned period for offline experiments and development runs was severely reduced due to the delays and aforementioned problems. The re-installation of the GPS switchyard forced the cancellation of the offline running on the GPS and only a few off-line tests could actually be performed on the HRS.

The first three physics runs were unsuccessful. The first one suffered from the low transmission at GPS and the reversed line voltage polarity. The coupling and heating of the target with closed valve caused the failure of the ion-source and lead to the cancellation of the second run. The third run was affected by the inverted polarity in the line and by problems in the CERN Linac2.

Among the reasons for the delays of shutdown work the shortage of radioprotection staff was discussed: most of the technical work in different locations at the facility need to be supervised by a single radioprotection technician. Another complication arises from the fact that the ISOLDE primary zones (separator target areas) can only be accessed after the ISOLDE machine supervisor completes the security chain with a key stored at the new CERN Control Centre in Prevessin, which needs to be fetched from there and returned. There is also a shortage of manpower since the former AB-ATB-IF section leader, appointed group leader, has not been replaced. The recently appointed ISOLDE machine supervisors are still gaining experience and the lack of personnel in the AB-OP-IS section will be mitigated with a new machine supervisor who will join in the autumn 2006.

The collaboration members showed their very strong concern about the start-up and running problems and their deep impact on the physics programme. A detailed account of the complications during the start-up period affecting the experiments IS427, IS442, IS428 and IS358 was given. It was discussed that the link between ISOLDE machine supervisors, and technical crew in general, with the physics objectives of the experiments should be improved. Yield values should be communicated to the experimental group after the initial target on-line assessment. The collaboration proposed to organize a basic course for the technical staff on the physics goals and requirements of the experiments done at ISOLDE. A need for strengthening the integration of the activities at the technical level during the shutdown and the operation period was also pointed out.

The collaboration viewed that the missing staff, the radioprotection procedures and the work planning and integration need to be addressed shortly to improve the performance of the ISOLDE. The issue had already been brought to the attention of the INTC in its May 2006 meeting. The Collaboration decided to propose a review of the ISOLDE operation and maintenance to the CERN Department responsible for ISOLDE operation (AB) and to offer all possible cooperation in this respect. To initiate this, a letter from the Chairman of the ISOLDE Collaboration will be addressed to the AB Department Head.

Other points touched upon in the following discussion were

• The situation of the REX-ISOLDE 9-gap RF amplifier and cavity. The cavity is running at 80% of its capacity and the situation is not yet clarified. The design faults including the poor ventilation of the RF tube and the insulation of electronics are to be addressed. Discussions are underway with the supplier, Bertronix. A division of tasks and a repair plan will be addressed during the year.
• ISOLDE has adopted the “Beam Line Modification Request” document as the standard for new major installations.
• The move of Miniball experimental location into the new extension of the ISOLDE hall, and to the installation of the RFQ cooler and buncher are planned for the 2006-2007 winter shutdown. There will be little offline running and only a reduced separator courses will be allowed. Manpower difficulties are expected due to the extra tasks.

4. HIE-ISOLDE

The ISOLDE technical coordinator presented a technical report and resource estimate on the HIE-ISOLDE project (see transparencies), as discussed by the AB and AT Department Management Boards. It includes the three main lines of upgrade, namely the REX-ISOLDE energy upgrade, the proton driver intensity upgrade and the beam quality improvement. The alternatives for the REX-ISOLDE energy upgrade have recently been addressed by an International Advisory Panel. Their recommendation is to use superconducting technology for the extension of the REX-LINAC. The major delay will be defined by the time needed for R&D on the superconducting cavities. The intensity upgrade needs to be discussed in the context of the CERN accelerators. The upgrades in beam quality are essential for the success of the facility and are already more than 50% funded by the ISOLDE Collaboration. The estimated budget is believed to be an upper limit. The budget for manpower is not explicitly accounted for, but the assumption is made that resources set free at other areas at CERN after the construction of LHC may become available. The very earliest date when CERN could be committed to the project would be December 2006.

The Committee suggested that the beam lines after REX-ISOLDE be included in the budget estimation. It underlined the importance of the time scale for the success of the proposal and stressed that the role of the collaboration should be discussed.

The HIE-ISOLDE Report was discussed next. It will contain a scientific part and a technical section integrated in a CERN “Yellow” Report. Apart from being directed to the CERN audience, it may be used as core document for the finance agencies. The technical chapter is about to be finished with the inclusion of the choice of REX-LINAC technology. There is a draft of the Physics section, which needs to be made more homogeneous and completed with the missing parts of the experimental programme. Specific physic cases need to be identified and detailed. The institutions involved in the proposal, including the ISOLDE collaboration, should be specified and the potential to increase the community needs to be shown. A writing committee will be appointed by the ISOLDE Physics group leader, the Chairman of the ISCC and the Chairman of the INTC, and a draft will be prepared by the next meeting of the INTC on 30-31 October 2006. In addition an executive summary of the Physics case will be prepared for the INTC and CERN Research Board.

5. INTC matters

The Chairman of the INTC reported on the outcome of the last two meetings. Out of the 368 radioactive beam shifts requested in the February and May 2006 meetings, 262 have been recommended for approval to the CERN Research Board. The finances of the HIE-ISOLDE project were discussed in the latest meeting. There is no budget available for new R&D projects at CERN until ~2011. A resources request needs to be made to the CERN Council in competition with other projects. The role of the Collaboration is crucial in the context and funds raised within the member countries will be advantageous to catalyze CERN support.

6. Scheduling and PH department news

The ISOLDE Physics Coordinator presented an evaluation of the experiments during the 2004 and 2005 campaigns focusing on unsuccessful runs, as requested by the INTC (see transparencies). During 2004 34 scheduled experiments took beam in 56 separate beam times grouped in 28 blocks. Four beam times were either cancelled or stopped prematurely. Three more beam times had to be rescheduled. A few other experiments suffered from lower yields than expected or from a delayed start of their beam time. In the year 2005 30 scheduled experiments took beam in 51 different beam times grouped in 27 blocks. Five beam times were either cancelled or stopped. Two more beam times had to be rescheduled after failures. A few other runs suffered from smaller difficulties.

The schedule conditions for the 2006 campaign were then introduced. Protons were delivered to ISOLDE on 18 April 2006 and the physics experiments started on 24 April 2006, but were largely unsuccessful due to the abovementioned technical problems. The end of the on-line operation for ISOLDE has been extended to 20 November 2006. There were 503.5 remaining shifts for approved experiments from 2005, and a further 184 shifts were approved during the February 2006 INTC meeting. The user requests for 2006 amount to 481 shifts. Apart from the inflexible user requests, the main constraints for the schedule are (i) the limitation to a maximum of 10 UC_x targets that can be made available during 2006 by the AB-ATB-IF group [265 shifts requested by users] (ii) the operation of the RILIS [230 shifts requested by users] (iii) the integration of the research and development activities and (iv) the REX-ISOLDE operation [175 shifts requested by users]. The ISOLDE GPS and HRS schedules were then presented.

Other matters discussed included:

• The plans for a new solid state laboratory are still under discussion. Responsibility at CERN has been transferred to TS/FM and the process has been re-started.
• The support from the SC/RP group towards the experimental programme has degraded, specially the RP shipping service and the radioactive sources service.
• The separation of the general purpose computer network (GPN) and the Technical computer Network (TN) is in force as of 1 January 2006. The ISOLDE controls have been moved to the TN and the experiment computers are connected to the GPN.
• The INTC submission interface has been upgraded. There is now a single submission screen in which all required information for each proposal is collected, and which allows for the direct transfer of the file. The reference numbers are obtained automatically and stamped into the transferred document.

The ISOLDE Physics group leader covered the following points:

• The ISOLDE Newsletter is out in electronic version only. It can be found at http://isolde.web.cern.ch/ISOLDE/newsletters/ISO_News_jun06.pdf.
• Professor Heinz-Jürgen Kluge has been awarded the Lise Meitner Prize from the Nuclear Physics Board of the European Physical Society. It was agreed that a note of congratulations for this well-deserved prize should be sent to him.
• Preparations have started for the next round of applications to the FP7 of the EU. NUPECC has appointed a committee to guide I3 and EURONS and include other projects. Access to large scale facilities will probably be cut and networks and research activities will have a new format. The pre-selections will start during next autumn.

7. Fellowship applications

The ISOLDE Physics group leader reported that 11 out of the 85 applicants for a research fellowship within the PH Department had applied for ISOLDE. One of them has been selected (Emmanuel Clement, Saclay). One applicant for ISOLDE as CERN Scientific Associate has also been successful (Henryk Mach, Uppsala). A Marie Curie fellowship has been awarded to Magdalena Kowalska, Mainz, for 2 years.

8. Budget 2006

The ISOLDE Physics group leader presented the Collaboration finances. The REX posts keep being a heavy economic burden for the collaboration, and this hardly leaves funds available for specific installations, including the ISCOOL project. The ISCC agreed to the spending profile for 2006 and the projection for 2007 and 2008.

9. Plans for User Instrumentation

Peter Butler reported on the meeting held in Leuven to discuss the Recoil mass spectrometer to complement REX-ISOLDE. Possible synergies between the proposed vacuum mode separator projects at CERN and JYFL were explored in the meeting and it was suggested that the JYFL separator design could be used as a prototype for the CERN separator concept. The JYFL prototype could provide an important test bed for the separator with stable ion beams. An initial estimate prices the capital cost for building the CERN separator at ~ 1M€ with an additional cost of 300k€ for the JYFL electric dipole. A letter of intent lead by Phil Woods will be submitted to the INTC.

10. New MoU

A new draft for the ISOLDE Memorandum of Understanding is being prepared, as the existing one has come to an end. The new version is adapted to the CERN standards and the aim is to have it in force on 1 January 2007. The main organizational matters are described in the body of the document, but specific information is contained in Annexes to simplify the update and revision. The collaboration structure suggested by CERN was discussed and it was agreed to simplify it by integrating the collaboration and finance committees into a single one. Feedback on the document is required from the members of the committee by the end of August 2006.

11.  A.O.B.

• The term of Luis M. Fraile as ISOLDE Physics coordinator comes to an end on 30 September 2007. A replacement will be sought with the idea of having the CERN selection board in October 2006. Therefore a call for applications will be released with deadline 1 September 2006.
• The Euroschool of Exotic Beams has requested a commitment for support from the Collaboration with 3 k€ for 3 years from 2007 to 2009. This is agreed.
• Proposal for dates for next ISOLDE User meeting should be sent to the Karsten Riisager. The suggested month is February 2007.
• A school in nuclear theory for experimentalists, similar to that held very successfully at MSU and planned at RIKEN in 2007 is suggested at ISOLDE. The idea is welcomed and a format of 5 days with 3 hours of morning lectures and 3 hours of afternoon computer sessions is suggested. Preferred dates will be towards the end of February 2007.
• The strong need for a complete list of ISOLDE publications was underlined. It was agreed that the Physics coordinator would ask the experiment spokespersons for the list of publications during the past 3 years at the end of the 2006 campaign. A way of integrating all the publications either locally or with the help of the CERN Document Server will be investigated.
• The need for an updated and complete list of users of the ISOLDE facility was also pointed out, as those listed in the GreyBook do not always reflect the real situation. It was agreed that the Physics coordinator will also request this information to the spokespersons at the end of the year, and then it will be combined with the data obtained from the EURONS TNA programme.
• Next ISCC meeting will be held on Monday 30 October at 9:00.

Minutes by Luis M Fraile