Detector upgrades and tests at the VITO beamline at ISOLDE

During my eight-week internship at CERN, in the framework of the Summer Student Programme 2022, I was involved in research activities at ISOLDE. This nuclear-physics facility uses protons from CERN’s accelerator complex to produce and study radioactive nuclei. The large variety of isotopes available at ISOLDE makes this laboratory a place not only for fundamental research but also for applications in condensed matter and life sciences. I was working at the VITO beamline that produces spin-polarised beams through the optical pumping technique. I participated in an experiment based on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), in which asymmetry of beta-particle emission from spin-oriented nuclei was measured. This experiment was part of an interdisciplinary project combining nuclear and atomic physics, as well as chemistry and biology. A radioactive beam of 47K was implanted into liquid samples containing DNA material. The subsequent detection of radiation emitted from this nucleus allowed us to study the interaction of the nucleic acid structures with metal ions present in various solvents. I have become familiar with practices of working with the beamline, including high vacuum systems and superconducting magnets. For the planned upgrades at VITO, I have tested compact gamma-ray detectors that will be used in a new beta-decay spectroscopy station dedicated to coincidence measurements of gamma rays and beta particles emitted from laser-polarised nuclei. Preliminary tests have shown that tested detectors can be utilised in an ongoing biological project to impose additional coincidence conditions on the beta particles recorded after implantation of the 47K beam.