China's High Intensity heavy-ion Accelerator Facility, or HIAF, has achieved its first physics result, with scientists observing an extremely rare isotope, hafnium-153, during the facility's commissioning phase.
The research, published recently in the journal Science Bulletin, was led by the Institute of Modern Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research in Germany, the University of Cologne in Germany, East China University of Technology, and the Advanced Energy Science and Technology Guangdong Laboratory.
Hafnium-153 sits in the neutron-deficient heavy nuclear region — a zone where nuclei have far fewer neutrons than their stable counterparts. Its precise measurement helps test nuclear models and deepen understanding of how atomic nuclei hold together at the edge of stability. But producing and detecting such rare isotopes is extremely difficult, requiring intense particle beams, efficient separation from billions of other nuclear fragments, and the sensitivity to identify individual ions.
HIAF, located in Huizhou in South China's Guangdong province, is designed to provide exactly that. The facility began trial operations on July 21, accelerating heavy ions to extreme speeds to create the conditions needed for frontier nuclear physics research.
In the experiment, the team smashed a high-speed beam of bismuth atoms into a target, producing a cascade of nuclear fragments. Among the debris, they isolated and identified 10 hafnium-153 ions.
The Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory in Japan also reported the observation of hafnium-153 around the same time, providing mutual confirmation that strengthened the findings.
This new achievement not only marks an important advance in probing the limits of nuclear existence, but also opens the door to broader scientific exploration at HIAF, the researchers said.
With further improvements in beam intensity and experimental efficiency, HIAF is expected to play an increasingly important role in the discovery of new isotopes and the investigation of nuclear properties under extreme conditions, they added.
(Cover image: Huizhou Fabu)
