FRIB fact sheets

FRIB fact sheets
These downloadable fact sheets highlight FRIB's key research and development areas, as well as pertinent contact information.

About FRIB

  • Overview - Hosting what is designed to be the most powerful heavy-ion accelerator, FRIB enables scientists to make discoveries about the properties of rare isotopes, nuclear astrophysics, fundamental interactions, and applications for society, including in medicine, homeland security, and industry.
  • Addressing National Priorities - FRIB is a core piece of U.S. research infrastructure with broad benefits to other sciences, medicine, materials science, national security, and industry.
  • History of FRIB - The partnership to create, build, and operate the $730 million FRIB has delivered a world-unique U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE-SC) user facility that ensures the nation’s continued competitiveness in nuclear science.
  • Quick Facts for Media - FRIB, one of 28 U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE-SC) user facilities, is the only accelerator-based user facility on a university campus and is operated by Michigan State University to support the mission of the DOE-SC Office of Nuclear Physics.

FRIB technology and science

  • Building Cryomodules - FRIB has established a world-class program to design and produce superconducting radio frequency resonators, cold masses, and cryomodules. 
  • Cryogenic Helium Process Systems - FRIB built and runs its own state-of-the-art cryogenic plant, or cryoplant, that operates at 4 kelvin, or 4 degrees above absolute zero.
  • Liquid-Lithium Charge Stripper - FRIB has demonstrated a liquid-lithium charge stripper to accelerate unprecedentedly high-power heavy-ion beams. 
  • Scientific Users - FRIB is open to researchers, or scientific users, from around the world based on the merit of their proposals for scientific research.
  • Isotope Harvesting - During routine operation for its nuclear physics mission—without interfering with FRIB’s primary users—extra, unused isotopes can be “harvested.”
  • High Rigidity Spectrometer (HRS) - The HRS instrument will enable scientists to characterize the properties of isotopes that are created in rare-isotope reactions produced at about 50 percent the speed of light.