Facility for Rare Isotope Beams

A scientific team at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams at Michigan State University has developed a new optical detector. This development will enable scientific users to help generate new insights and breakthroughs in nuclear physics. The team’s findings are detailed in an “Editor’s Pick” paper published in Review of Scientific Instruments.

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE-SC) posted a highlight titled “Deblurring Can Reveal 3D Features of Heavy-Ion Collisions” about the FRIB research paper titled “Deblurring for Nuclei: 3D Characteristics of Heavy-Ion Collisions” published in Physical Review Letters. DOE-SC posts about 200 published research findings annually, selected by their respective program areas in DOE-SC as publication highlights of special note.

Michigan State University (MSU) is growing and evolving high-profile facilities and partnerships to keep pace with industry needs, from the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams—the preeminent user facility of its kind in the world, which recently announced its involvement in a new space electronics testing center—to MSU and Apple’s first U.S. Developer Academy in Detroit to MSU’s many industry collaborations that are reinventing the future of mobility in Michigan and beyond.

Scientists have measured the half-lives of five never-before-seen isotopes in a first demonstration of a research facility that will help probe the nuclear structures of elements. The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) at Michigan State University allows scientists to study the so-called drip line, the point at which no more neutrons can be added to an atomic nucleus.

The first experiments at FRIB were completed over the summer of 2022. Even though the facility is currently running at only a fraction of its full power, multiple scientific collaborations working at FRIB have already produced and detected about 100 rare isotopes. These early results are helping researchers learn about some of the rarest physics in the universe.

A new study led by the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has measured how long it takes for several kinds of exotic nuclei to decay. The paper, published today in Physical Review Letters, marks the first experimental result from the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science user facility operated by Michigan State University.

The first experiments at FRIB were completed over the summer of 2022. Even though the facility is currently running at only a fraction of its full power, multiple scientific collaborations working at FRIB have already produced and detected about 100 rare isotopes. These early results are helping researchers learn about some of the rarest physics in the universe.

The first experiments at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) were completed over the summer of 2022. Even though the facility is currently running at only a fraction of its full power, multiple scientific collaborations working at FRIB have already produced and detected about 100 rare isotopes. These early results are helping researchers learn about some of the rarest physics in the universe.

A multi-institutional team of scientific users have published the results of the first scientific experiment at Facility for Rare Isotope Beams in the journal Physical Review Letters. The experiment studied the decay of isotopes so unstable that they only exist for fractions of a second. To perform the study, the rare isotopes were implanted into the center of a sensitive detector known as the FRIB Decay Station initiator.

A new study has measured how long it takes for several kinds of exotic nuclei to decay. The paper marks the first experimental result from the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams. It is just a small taste of what's to come at the facility, which will become 400 times more powerful over the coming years.

Of Equal Place: Isotopes in Motion incorporates dance, video, and physics to create an exhilarating and engaging performance on Sunday, 6 November at 1:00 p.m. This project is a mass collaboration between Wharton Center, the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), Dance Exchange, Happendance, Women and Minorities in Physical Sciences (WaMPS) community members, and students from Everett High School and Dwight Rich School of the Arts.

“Of Equal Place: Isotopes in Motion” premieres at Wharton Center’s Pasant Theatre at 1:00 p.m., Sunday, 6 November. It’s a work created by Dance Exchange, Happendance, the Wharton Center Institute for Arts and Creativity and the MSU Women and Minorities in the Physical Sciences. The concert is underwritten by the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) at Michigan State University. The dance concert takes FRIB research and creates choreography that explores themes common to both nuclear physics and dance: stability and instability, measurement, acceleration, fragmentation and navigating mystery.

Discovery of neutron-laden isotope sodium-39 defies theoretical predictions. Researchers at Japan’s RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science created just a handful of sodium-39 nuclei. The first results from FRIB, which turned on in May, examine nuclei near sodium-39. Researchers at FRIB also shredded a beam of calcium-48 to create neutron-rich isotopes of magnesium, aluminum, silicon, and phosphorus—the elements following sodium—and measured how quickly they beta decay.

Nusair Hasan of the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams was recognized with CSA's 2022 Roger W. Boom Award at the Applied Superconductivity Conference in Honolulu for his outstanding work on the advancement of cryogenic processes and technology, specifically relating to large-scale 2 kelvin (K) and 4.5 K cryogenic refrigeration and critical supporting sub-systems for particle accelerators. Hasan has also made noteworthy contributions in training and mentoring future generations of cryogenic engineers.

FRIB scientists were among 18 authors from 11 institutions who summarized an explosion of artificial intelligence-aided work in a paper recently published in Reviews of Modern Physics.

Michigan State University in East Lansing has launched a Space Electronics Center—part of the College of Engineering and the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, or FRIB—that will design and test devices and systems for space applications. Texas Instruments is among the early supporters of the center and has worked closely with the FRIB team on some of its first electronics testing sessions.

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE-SC) posted a highlight titled "Record-Breaking Radiation Detection Pins Down Element Formation in Stellar Novae" about the Oak Ridge National Laboratory/MSU research paper titled "Constraining the 30P(p,g)31S Reaction Rate in ONe Novae via the Weak, Low-Energy, β-Delayed Proton Decay of 31Cl" published in Physical Review Letters. DOE-SC posts about 200 published research findings annually, selected by their respective program areas in DOE-SC as publication highlights of special note.

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE-SC) posted a highlight titled “Innovative FRIB Liquid-Lithium Charge Stripper Boosts Accelerator Performance” about the Argonne National Laboratory/FRIB research paper titled “Experimental Demonstration of the Thin-Film Liquid-Metal Jet as a Charge Stripper” published in Physical Review Letters. DOE-SC posts about 200 published research findings annually, selected by their respective program areas in DOE-SC as publication highlights of special note.

FRIB uses nuclear collisions to generate beams of isotopes rarely found in nature because of their instability to radioactive decay, and which should yield new insights into nuclear physics and nucleosynthesis in stars and supernovae.

ARD, a joint organization of Germany's regional public-service broadcasters, conducted an interview with FRIB Experimental Systems Division Director Georg Bollen about the opening of FRIB. (Note: The audio interview on the ARD website is in German.)

A new research facility in the U.S. wants to delve deeper into the world of atoms than ever before - which could lead to groundbreaking discoveries. Click the link above to read the article (in German).

Two decades in the making, a new flagship facility for nuclear physics opened on May 2, and scientists from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have a hand in 10 of its first 34 experiments. ORNL researchers and their partners at other national laboratories and universities launched the first experiment on May 11. The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, or FRIB, a DOE Office of Science user facility at Michigan State University, will produce more than 1,000 new rare isotopes.

Two decades in the making, The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), a Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science user facility at Michigan State University opened on May 2, and scientists from the DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have a hand in 10 of its first 34 experiments. ORNL researchers and their partners at other national laboratories and universities launched the first experiment on May 11.

Two decades in the making, a new flagship facility for nuclear physics opened on May 2, and scientists from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have a hand in 10 of its first 34 experiments. ORNL researchers and their partners at other national laboratories and universities launched the first experiment on May 11. The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, or FRIB, a DOE Office of Science user facility at Michigan State University, will produce more than 1,000 new rare isotopes.

DC News (Romania) repurposed the Guardian’s “New U.S. lab to create versions of atoms never recorded on Earth” article (16 May 2022) on its news website. Click the link above to read the DC News article (in Romanian). The original Guardian article is linked under “New U.S. lab to create versions of atoms never recorded on Earth” below.

Takuji Kanemura and his colleagues at FRIB report on the success of an alternative charge-stripping method being used at FRIB, which they say overcomes the limitations of other charge-stripping techniques

In 1921, Nobel laureate Otto Hahn discovered the first nuclear isomer, an atomic nucleus whose protons and neutrons are arranged differently from the common form of the element, causing it to have unusual properties. A century after Hahn first discovered isomers, scientists are still discovering new isomers using powerful research facilities around the world, including the the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams at Michigan State University. This facility came online in May 2022, and hopes to unlock more than 1,000 new isotopes and isomers.

From carbon to uranium, oxygen to iron, chemical elements are the building blocks of the world around us and the wider universe. Now, physicists are hoping to gain an unprecedented glimpse into their origins, with the opening of a new facility that will create thousands of peculiar and unstable versions of atoms never before recorded on Earth.

Yahoo News UK included the Guardian’s “New U.S. lab to create versions of atoms never recorded on Earth” article (16 May 2022) in its news feed. Click the link in the item listed below to see the article on the Guardian’s website.

FRIB is home to the world's most powerful heavy ion accelerator. The technology required innovation and not just from the scientists. In 2014, Gunthorpe Plumbing and Heating in East Lansing, in a joint venture with Limbach, got a contract to work on the $730 million nuclear science research facility.

The world's most powerful heavy-ion accelerator—which will create new exotic atoms and reveal how stars and supernovas forge the elements that make up our universe—is finally completed, researchers announced 2 May. Experiments at the $730 million Facility for Rare Isotope Beams at Michigan State University are slated to start this week. Once online, the new reactor will fire two heavy atomic nuclei at each other, splitting them apart in ways that enable scientists to study what glues them together and how rare atomic isotopes—versions of chemical elements with different numbers of neutrons in their nuclei—are structured.

The nuclear physics community is hailing the kickoff of a long-awaited facility for producing beams of radioactive isotopes, with a cohort of users gearing up for the first experiments. The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) at Michigan State University opens its doors to experimenters this week. FRIB is expected to deliver the widest range of rare isotopes of any existing facility, including many never-before-synthesized isotopes.

Michigan State University believes its Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) will unlock the door to new discoveries—and scientists could find the first key this week. 11 May is the first time scientists will blast a particle beam from FRIB's 400-kilowatt linear accelerator at full power. A subscription to the Lansing State Journal is required to view this article.

Michigan State University’s Facility for Rare Isotope Beams officially opened yesterday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, elected officials, and guests who had supported the project during its planning and construction, including ANS Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer Craig Piercy. They were there to celebrate the completion—on time and within budget—of the world’s most powerful heavy-ion accelerator and the first accelerator-based Department of Energy Office of Science user facility located on a university campus.

Michigan State University’s Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), a user facility for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, opened its doors to discovery with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on 2 May. U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm and MSU President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D., cut the ribbon to officially mark the start of FRIB’s scientific mission.

Government and university leaders including U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm gathered on 2 May in East Lansing to cut a green ribbon at Michigan State's Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, officially opening the lab after two decades of work. The facility, known as FRIB, is anchored by a 400-kilowatt linear accelerator that scientists hope will lead to groundbreaking discoveries in nuclear physics. A subscription to the Lansing State Journal is required to view this article.

The ribbon was cut Monday morning to open the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), a research facility at Michigan State University where scientists can accelerate ions at up to half the speed of light. Those ions will hit a target, with collisions that will produce rare isotopes that could lead to advancements in the fight against cancer and perhaps unlock the secrets of the universe.

Government and university leaders including U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm gathered on 2 May in East Lansing to cut a green ribbon at Michigan State's Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, officially opening the lab after two decades of work.

Michigan State University hosted the ribbon cutting and grand opening of its new state-of-the-art Facility for Rare Isotope Beams. The facility has been in the works since May of 2009 and is partially funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, the state of Michigan, and Michigan State University to help evolve the state.

Michigan State University held a ceremonial ribbon cutting to mark the official opening of the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, or FRIB, on 2 May at the Wharton Center. The room was energetic and cheerful as government officials and MSU leaders gathered to celebrate the opening.

A ribbon cutting ceremony took place Monday for Michigan State University’s Facility for Rare Isotope Beams. Governor Gretchen Whitmer, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and Senator Gary Peters were among those in attendance at the event.

Michigan State University celebrated the opening of the world's most powerful heavy-ion accelerator 2 May, allowing researchers to create and study new rare isotopes. User experiments at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams are expected to begin next week, officials said after an opening ceremony at the Wharton Center capped a milestone for a project more than a decade in the making that cost about $730 million, including about $635 million in federal funding. A subscription to Detroit News is required to view this article.

Michigan State University hosted the ribbon cutting and grand opening of its new state-of-the-art Facility for Rare Isotope Beams. The facility has been in the works since May of 2009 and is partially funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, the state of Michigan, and Michigan State University to help evolve the state.

A $730 million project that started 13 years ago at Michigan State University is now complete. MSU’s Facility for Rare Isotope Beams held a ribbon-cutting ceremony this morning.

Public officials cut the ribbon on 2 May for the new Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) on Michigan State University’s campus. Scholars hope the heavy-ion accelerator at the facility, also called the FRIB, can hold the key to advancements in fields ranging from nuclear energy to cancer treatment.

U.S. Secretary of Energy and former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm traveled to the state on Monday, May 2, where she highlighted Michigan as a national innovator in the future of clean energy. Granholm made two separate stops during her Michigan visit Monday—first at Michigan State University in East Lansing, for the ribbon cutting ceremony of the school’s new Facility for Rare Isotope Beams.

After 13 years, the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams is up and running. It was designed to help scientists answer fundamental questions about the formation of the elements, the structure of matter, how stars and born and how they die. And now it's ready.

The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), under construction in the heart of Michigan State’s campus since 2014, opens this week. This is a watershed moment in our community, and a success story worthy of celebration. FRIB, located in the heart of Michigan State's campus, opens this week. The project, which has spanned two decades, is a real victory for all of Greater Lansing. The $730 million project originated in 2008, when the U.S. Department of Energy selected MSU from a pool of prestigious candidates across the globe. A subscription to the Lansing State Journal is required to view this editorial.

One of nuclear physicists’ top wishes is about to come true. After a decades-long wait, the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, a $942 million accelerator in Michigan is officially inaugurating on 2 May. Its experiments will chart unexplored regions of the landscape of exotic atomic nuclei and shed light on how stars and supernova explosions create most of the elements in the Universe.

As many as 1,600 scientists from around the globe are expected to work at times in the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, on Michigan State University’s campus. A ribbon-cutting Monday, attended by U.S. Secretary of Energy and former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, will mark the official opening of the FRIB.

Daniel Puentes, a doctoral student in physics at FRIB, was featured in MSUToday for the radio podcast he co-hosts, The Sci-Files. On the show, he interviews Spartan students about their scientific research projects. Puentes has his own research projects, as well.

A U.S. and Chinese team has now created the lightest magnesium isotope known—with too few neutrons to exist for more than moments—at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University.

Magnesium is the eighth-most abundant element in Earth’s crust. The new isotope is the world’s lightest magnesium. “It’s pretty exciting. It’s not every day people discover a new isotope.” Forged at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University, the new magnesium isotope is so unstable, it falls apart before scientists can measure it directly. Yet this isotope that isn’t keen on existing can help researchers better understand how the atoms that define our existence are made.

Scientists have just created the world's lightest form of magnesium—a never-before-seen isotope with just six neutrons in its atomic nuclei—inside the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University.