https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-025-06586-5
Review
Major radioactive ion beam facilities: a brief global overview
1
Samarkand State University, 140104, Samarkand, Uzbekistan
2
Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 730000, Lanzhou, China
3
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049, Beijing, China
4
National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, A20 Datun Road, Chaoyang District, 100101, Beijing, China
5
Arba Minch University, 21, Arba Minch, Ethiopia
a
shakhbozkhasanov93@gmail.com
Received:
15
April
2025
Accepted:
24
June
2025
Published online:
7
July
2025
This paper provides a focused global overview of major radioactive ion beam (RIB) facilities, highlighting their technical features, operational capabilities, and contributions to nuclear physics research, astrophysics, and interdisciplinary applications. A literature review was conducted by collating data from technical reports, facility documentation, and peer-reviewed articles on key RIB facilities. The analysis focused on FAIR (Germany), FRIB (USA), TRIUMF (Canada), ISOLDE (CERN), GANIL (France), SPES (Italy), NICA (Russia), RIBF (Japan), HIRFL (China), and RAON (Korea). Emphasis was placed on understanding their operational frameworks and the core methodologies—specifically, ISOL and in-flight separation techniques—that underpin RIB production. This approach allowed us to synthesize historical developments, technological strategies, and selected recent advancements, providing a representative snapshot of the global RIB landscape. Our analysis reveals that despite differing designs and operational approaches, these facilities commonly rely on ISOL and in-flight separation techniques to produce radioactive ion beams. Incremental improvements in accelerator technology, ion source performance, and beam diagnostics are evident and contribute to enhanced operational stability and improved experimental precision, thereby advancing our understanding of nuclear structure and reaction dynamics. This review offers a balanced perspective on key RIB facilities and their methodologies. Steady, incremental technological enhancements and collaborative efforts have improved operational capabilities, forming a solid basis for future experimental and applied research in nuclear science.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2025
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
