Orateur
Description
The S$^3$-Low Energy Branch (S$^{3}$-LEB) was designed as a low-energy radioactive beam experiment that incorporates in-gas-jet laser resonance ionization spectroscopy (IGLIS)[1], mass spectrometry (PILGRIM)[2], and decay spectroscopy (SEASON)[3,4]. This combination of experimental techniques provides a unique capability to produce, purify, and characterize low-energy radioactive ion beams with high efficiency and low background. After a successful offline commissioning at LPC Caen with stable Er isotopes [5], the experiment was moved to the focal plane of the Super Separator Spectrometer (S$^3$) [6] at GANIL.
The design and implementation of control system and data acquisition software is critical to experimental nuclear physics, where automation and increasingly complex algorithms provide enhanced functionality and time-saving procedures for existing hardware. These tools are particularly vital to the commissioning of new experiments, where many parameters need to be tested to diagnose issues before receiving the online beam. Free and open-source tools that exist today can be used to create versatile software tailored to suit the needs of a specific experimental setup.
In this contribution the development of control system and data acquisition software, created with the aforementioned tools, will be reported upon. This Python-based software controls the S$^{3}$-LEB beamline using EPICS and PyEpics in order to perform automated processes and diagnostic tests, as well as controlling the MCS8A time-to-digital converter. Additionally, plans for future developments will be discussed.
S$^3$-LEB has received funding from the French Research Ministry through the National Research Agency under contract number ANR-13-BS05-0013, from the Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO) under the International Research Infrastructure program number I002219N, from the Research Coordination Office – KU Leuven (C14/22/104), from the European Research Council under contract number ERC-2011-AdG-291561-HELIOS, from the FWO and F.R.S.-FNRS under the Excellence of Science (EOS) programme (40007501),from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement number 654002–ENSAR2–H2020-INFRAIA-2014-2015 and under grant agreement number 861198–LISA–H2020-MSCA-ITN-2019 and from IN2P3-DSM/CEA and GSI under the French-German collaboration agreement number PN1064.
[1] R. Ferrer et al. “In gas laser ionization and spectroscopy experiments at the Superconducting Separator Spectrometer (S3): Conceptual studies and preliminary design”. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms 317 (2013). XVIth International Conference on ElectroMagnetic Isotope Separators and Techniques Related to their Applications, December 2–7, 2012 at Matsue, Japan, 570–581.
[2] P. Chauveau et al. “PILGRIM, a Multi-Reflection Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer for Spiral2-S3 at GANIL”. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms 376 (2016). Proceedings of the XVIIth International Conference on Electromagnetic Isotope Separators and Related Topics (EMIS2015), Grand Rapids, MI, U.S.A., 11-15 May 2015, 211–215.
[3] M. Vandebrouck. “Spectroscopy Electron Alpha in Silicon bOx couNter” (2020).
[4] E. Rey-Herme. “Octupole deformation in 221Ac and development of the SEASON detector”. PhD thesis. Université Paris-Saclay, 2023.
[5] A. Ajayakumar et al. “In-gas-jet laser spectroscopy with S3-LEB”. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms 539 (2023), 102–107.
[6] F. Déchery et al. “Toward the drip lines and the superheavy island of stability with the Super Separator Spectrometer S3”. The European Physical Journal A 51 (2015).