Research Groups

The main Focus of our research is on the properties of individual quantum states in nuclei and the identification of new nuclei using gamma-ray, electron, particle and time-correlated techniques.

Atomic nuclei are completely invisible, being less than 10^-14 metres across, and a collision of two nuclei takes only 10^-20 seconds. In such seemingly infinitesimal and transient events, a tremendously wide range of phenomena occur. Understanding them fully represents a fascinating intellectual challenge, which is also relevant to many other fields of science.

The Nuclear Reaction Dynamics group has developed expertise in the design and development of unique, efficient particle detection systems. These are used in fundamental research into the important processes of nuclear fusion, where two nuclei merge into one, and nuclear fission, where one nucleus splits into two.

AMS uses the combination of a high efficiency (small sample) ion source, tandem acceleration and heavy-ion detection and identification techniques (only possible with relatively high-energy ions), to make highly sensitive measurements of ultra-low abundance isotopes.

The AMS Group at ANU is small but dynamic, and utilises the relatively high-energies (in AMS terms) capable with the ANU 14UD pelletron accelerator to analyse a large number of isotopes at very high sensitivity.

Local electric and magnetic fields in materials are investigated using radioact probes with known nuclear moments. Probe nuclei are introduced into samples either with direct production/recoil implantation using the 14UD accelerator or with a dedicated ion implanter. Current studies are focused on amorphization and relaxation effects in semiconductors.

Interactions between the electric and magnetic fields produced by the nucleus and the local electric and magnetic fields in the immediate surroundings of the nucleus are called hyperfine interactions. It is these hyperfine interactions that we measure with a view to learning more about either the internal workings of the nucleus or about the fields in which the nucleus is placed.

This work is related to both the nuclear spectroscopy and the perturbed angular correlations activities of the Department. In cases where the fields applied to the nucleus are known we can obtain new information about the fields produced by the nucleus. These fields are usually characterized by quantities known as the magnetic dipole moment and the electric quadrupole moment. By measuring these moments for individual quantum states of the nucleus we can learn about their internal structure.

Ion beam analysis techniques such as Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS) and Elastic Recoil Detection (ERD) can provide quantitative compositional analysis of thin-film materials. Such analysis is usually performed with energetic light ions, such as H and He, however, the use of high-energy, heavy ions offers many advantages for such analysis. Recent research, using the unique features of the 14UD accelerator at ANU, has led to important developments in this field and to a new and active area of research. The research ranges from fundamental studies of ion-solid interaction processes and the development and application of ion beam analysis techniques, to materials science studies employing ion-irradiation and/or ion-beam analysis. A broad range of PhD, honours and vacation student projects are available for students with physics and engineering backgrounds.