Specialized equipment for use in the study of the structure radioactive nuclei will be constructed at the Michigan State University National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, presently the major US facility used in the study of radioactive nuclei. The equipment will consist of an array of germanium detectors for detecting decay gamma rays from unstable nuclei produced via a technique known as particle beam fragmentation. Beams produced in this fashion have a high velocity in the laboratory and the gamma rays emitted in different directions are thus Doppler shifted in a varied degree to the extent that the overall energy resolution is broadened dramatically. This array will permit such Doppler broadening to be deconvoluted, allowing important high resolution studies of these unstable nuclei. The study of the structure of these nuclei will provide important input to our understanding of nuclei and reactions of importance in nucleosynthesis and other stellar processes, and will constrain and test theoretical work in nuclear structure. The study of nuclei far from stability and nuclear astrophysics are topics of high priority within US nuclear science, as established by the joint NSF/DOE Nuclear Science Advisory Committee in its 1996 Long Range Plan. Education of students and postdocs is strong component of the experimental program in which this equipment will be used. Funding is provided through the Office of Multidisciplinary Activities as part of an initiative which will enable expansion of capabilities regarding instrumentation support.
