Welcome to FRIB
The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) at Michigan State University (MSU) is a world-class research and training center, hosting the most powerful rare-isotope accelerator. MSU operates FRIB as a user facility for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE-SC), with financial support from and furthering the mission of the DOE-SC Office of Nuclear Physics. FRIB is where researchers come together to make discoveries that change the world. They study the properties and fundamental interactions of rare isotopes and nuclear astrophysics and their impact on medicine, homeland security, and industry.
Research areas
FRIB advances nuclear science by improving our understanding of nuclei and their role in the universe, while also advancing accelerator systems.
Capabilities
In establishing and operating FRIB, capabilities were developed that transfer to other industries and applications.
User facilities
FRIB hosts the world’s most powerful heavy-ion accelerator and enables discoveries in rare isotopes, nuclear astrophysics, fundamental interactions, and societal applications like medicine, security, and industry.
Learn more about upcoming events taking place at FRIB.
The Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) is a recirculating linac at Jefferson Lab which has been in operation since 1994. It currently provides up to 12 GeV electrons for nuclear physics experiments in each of four experimental halls. Jefferson Lab is looking to the future and exploring potential upgrade paths. One of these upgrade paths is a doubling of the maximum electron energy. In order to do this, we intend to replace the highest energy arc on each side with Fixed Field Alternating gradient (FFA) arcs. These FFA arcs can transport beams of multiple energies within the same arc, allowing us to add an additional 5 or 6 turns, thus doubling the energy. In order to do this, we have had to make new magnet optics for each linac, design FFA arcs, add splitter sections to take the beams from the linac to the FFA arcs. In this talk we discuss the accelerator physics that CEBAF is based on, the current design of CEBAF and the plan for the energy upgrade to double the energy of CEBAF.
This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics under contract DE-AC05-06OR23177. Some of the work described in this paper was conducted under the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility for the U.S. Department of Energy.
Education & training
FRIB at MSU is a world-class research and training center where students and researchers from all career stages and backgrounds come together to make discoveries that change the world.
External news and journal publications discussing FRIB.
Researchers have reported new experimental results addressing the origin of rare proton-rich isotopes heavier than iron, called p-nuclei. Led by Artemis Tsantiri, then-graduate student at FRIB and current postdoctoral fellow at the University of Regina in Canada, the study presents the first rare isotope beam measurement of proton capture on arsenic-73 to produce selenium-74, providing new constraints on how the lightest p-nucleus is formed and destroyed in the cosmos.
A research team at FRIB is the first ever to observe a beta-delayed neutron emission from fluorine-25, a rare, unstable nuclide. Using the FRIB Decay Station Initiator (FDSi), the team found contradictions in prior experimental findings. The results led to a new line of inquiry into how particles in exotic, unstable isotopes remain bound under extreme conditions.
One of the nation's premier research facilities located at Michigan State University is getting a multi-million dollar upgrade. Late last month, the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science approved $49.7 million for MSU's Facility for Rare Isotope Beams.
