Rare Isotope Origin
by Owen Borville
July 16, 2024
Astronomy
Rare isotopes of elements can be created in several ways.
In stellar (star or supernova) explosions, rare isotopes are formed by radioactive beta decay, which is when a nucleus gains too many neutrons and becomes unstable, causing one or more of its neutrons to turn into a proton. The result is an element with a higher atomic number.
The neutron-capture process can also create rare isotopes. In addition, electron captures in neutron-star crusts can also create rare isotopes.
Rare isotopes are difficult to research because they are difficult to produce, and they cannot be fully researched from a theoretical framework without experimentation.
Because of their rarity and because of their quick decay, they are difficult to find. So these isotopes must be discovered or produced artificially.
Scientists can produce artificial rare isotopes using a large machine that can collide nuclei with each other at speeds near the speed of light.
During these collisions, the nuclei can break apart or fuse together, and potentially create new nuclei with new combinations of neutrons and protons.
The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) discovered five never-before-seen heavy element isotopes: thulium-182 and 183, ytterbium-186 and 187, and lutetium-190.
Researchers found the new isotopes in the debris of collisions between a stable beam of platinum-198 and a carbon target.
The challenge was not to produce these new nuclei but to distinguish them from the hundreds of known nuclei that were produced at the same time, then to precisely identify their mass and charge.
These heavy nuclei are difficult to separate but are important for research to determine how these nuclei are made in the universe.
These isotopes were produced, separated, and identified for the first time in the Advanced Rare Isotope Separator (ARIS) at FRIB.
Researchers formed the new isotopes in the projectile fragmentation of a platinum-198 beam on a rotating carbon target.
They identified these isotopes for the reaction products using measurements of the energy loss, time of flight, momentum, and total kinetic energy.
https://www.energy.gov/science/np/articles/facility-rare-isotope-beams-observes-five-never-seen-isotopes (May 13, 2024)
Tarasov, O.B., et al., Observation of new isotopes in the fragmentation of 198Pt at FRIB. Physical Review Letters 132, 072501 (2024). [DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett132.072501]
by Owen Borville
July 16, 2024
Astronomy
Rare isotopes of elements can be created in several ways.
In stellar (star or supernova) explosions, rare isotopes are formed by radioactive beta decay, which is when a nucleus gains too many neutrons and becomes unstable, causing one or more of its neutrons to turn into a proton. The result is an element with a higher atomic number.
The neutron-capture process can also create rare isotopes. In addition, electron captures in neutron-star crusts can also create rare isotopes.
Rare isotopes are difficult to research because they are difficult to produce, and they cannot be fully researched from a theoretical framework without experimentation.
Because of their rarity and because of their quick decay, they are difficult to find. So these isotopes must be discovered or produced artificially.
Scientists can produce artificial rare isotopes using a large machine that can collide nuclei with each other at speeds near the speed of light.
During these collisions, the nuclei can break apart or fuse together, and potentially create new nuclei with new combinations of neutrons and protons.
The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) discovered five never-before-seen heavy element isotopes: thulium-182 and 183, ytterbium-186 and 187, and lutetium-190.
Researchers found the new isotopes in the debris of collisions between a stable beam of platinum-198 and a carbon target.
The challenge was not to produce these new nuclei but to distinguish them from the hundreds of known nuclei that were produced at the same time, then to precisely identify their mass and charge.
These heavy nuclei are difficult to separate but are important for research to determine how these nuclei are made in the universe.
These isotopes were produced, separated, and identified for the first time in the Advanced Rare Isotope Separator (ARIS) at FRIB.
Researchers formed the new isotopes in the projectile fragmentation of a platinum-198 beam on a rotating carbon target.
They identified these isotopes for the reaction products using measurements of the energy loss, time of flight, momentum, and total kinetic energy.
https://www.energy.gov/science/np/articles/facility-rare-isotope-beams-observes-five-never-seen-isotopes (May 13, 2024)
Tarasov, O.B., et al., Observation of new isotopes in the fragmentation of 198Pt at FRIB. Physical Review Letters 132, 072501 (2024). [DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett132.072501]