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Argonne Gas-Filled Analyzer

AGFA is a state-of-the-art gas-filled separator at ATLAS, which can be used for studies of heavy and superheavy nuclei as well as to prepare exotic radioactive beams for mass measurements and laser spectroscopy.

AGFA was developed in a collaboration that includes the Argonne Physics Division, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, University of Massachusetts at Lowell, University of Maryland, University of Edinburgh, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Oregon State University.

Argonne Gas-Filled Separator (center) downstream from the Gammasphere gamma-ray array

This separator can be used for a wide range of studies including:

  • In the stand-alone mode for studies of superheavy nuclei, isomers in heavy elements, and fast proton and alpha emitters along the proton drip-line, including heavy nuclei
  • In conjunction with Gammasphere for in-beam and calorimetric studies of trans-fermium nuclei
  • To study, via deep-inelastic reactions, heavy neutron-rich nuclei that are important in the r-process
  • Together with a gas catcher to prepare beams of exotic radioactive ions for mass measurements and laser spectroscopy of trapped atoms
RECENT EXPERIMENTS
  • AGFA commissioning
  • Rotation of the fissile 254Rf nucleus
  • Rotational bands built on K-isomers in 254No
  • Spectroscopy of 249Md
  • Spectroscopy of 255Lr
  • Deep inelastic reactions at 0 degrees
  • Accelerator Mass Spectrometry test
  • In-beam spectroscopy of 188Bi
  • Proton decay of 185Bi
UPCOMING EXPERIMENTS
  • Symmetric reaction test
  • 253Lr decay spectroscopy
  • In-beam spectroscopy of 257Md
  • Decay spectroscopy of 254No
  • Decay spectroscopy of 255Lr
  • 112Ba-108Xe-104Te super-allowed alpha-decay chain
COLLABORATORS

A. A. Andreyev, University of York, UK
D. Ackermann, GANIL, France
R. M. Clark, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
D. T. Doherty, University of Surrey, UK
Tianheng Huang, Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
A. Korichi, CSNCM, IN2P3-CNRS Orsay, France
Michael Paul, Hebrew University, Israel
B. Sulignano, CEA Saclay, IRFU/DPhN, France
P. J. Woods, University of Edinburgh, UK