Equipment: MRI Track 1: Acquisition of a new Cs Sputter Ion Source for the Edwards Accelerator Laboratory at Ohio University

Intense beams of atomic nuclei are extremely important for studies in fundamental and applied research. The research conducted at Ohio University's Edwards Accelerator Laboratory (EAL) includes studies of nuclear reactions occurring in stars and astrophysical explosions, the determination of the structure of atomic nuclei, measurements of nuclear reactions of interest to national security and nuclear energy, and studies of novel materials. This award supports the acquisition of a new ion source that will increase the intensity of most beams by a factor of ten and also improve the operational reliability of the facility. The increased beam intensity will enable new measurements that are not currently possible and will make all of the research program more efficient. The majority of the experiments are performed by Ohio University graduate students, postdocs, and faculty, or students and researchers from other universities and national laboratories. In addition to cutting-edge research, the laboratory is used as teaching lab for undergraduate physics and astronomy majors at Ohio University. All of these users will benefit from the increased capability and reliability of the EAL. The EAL is a facility for low-energy nuclear science measurements with unique capabilities. A 4.5 MV Pelletron tandem accelerator is used to deliver ion beams to target stations for neutron, charged-particle, and gamma-ray measurements. This award will provide a new SNICS II ion source produced by the National Electrostatics Corporation. This new source will provide an order-of-magnitude increase in beam intensity compared to our existing ion source, and will also improve operational reliability. The upgrade will enhance the entire experimental program. The neutron time-of-flight research using proton and deuteron beams will particularly benefit, as these measurements are strongly constrained by the available beam intensity. The increased reliability will provide more efficient operation and improve the experience for graduate and undergraduate students utilizing the EAL. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria. NSF Award ID: 2510803 | Program: 01002627DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT | Principal Investigator: Carl Brune | Institution: Ohio University, ATHENS, OH | Award Amount: $392,438 View on NSF Award Search: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/show-award/?AWD_ID=2510803 View on Research.gov: https://www.research.gov/awardapi-service/v1/awards/2510803.html