Chemical Investigations of ISOL target units for carbon and nitrogen beams

Radioactive Ion Beams (RIB) are of significant interest in a number of applications. ISOL (Isotope Separation On Line) facilities provide RIB with high beam intensities and good beam quality. An atom that is produced within the ISOL target will first diffuse out from the target material. During the effusion towards the transfer line and into the ion source the many contacts with the surrounding surfaces may cause unacceptable delays in the transport and, hence, losses of the shorter-lived isotopes. We performed systematic chemical investigations of adsorption in a temperature and concentration regime relevant for ISOL targets and ion source units, with regard to COx and NOx on Al2O3 and SiO2. These materials are potential construction materials for the above mentioned areas. Off-line and on-line tests have been performed using a gas thermo-chromatography set-up with radioactive tracers. The experiments were performed at the PROTRAC facility at Paul Scherrer Institute in Villigen, Switzerland.