BARC, Mumbai
The 14 UD Pelletron Accelerator Facility at Mumbai has recently completed two decades of successful operation. The accelerator is mainly used for basic research in the fields of nuclear, atomic and condensed matter physics as well as material science. The application areas include accelerator mass spectrometry, production of track-etch membranes, radioisotopes production, radiation damage studies and secondary neutron production for cross section measurement etc. Over the years, a number of developmental activities have been carried out in-house that have helped in improving the overall performance and uptime of the accelerator and also made possible to initiate variety of application oriented programmes. Recently, a superconducting LINAC booster has been fully commissioned to provide beams up to A~60 region with E~5 MeV/A. As part of Facility augmentation program, it is planned to have an alternate injector system to the LINAC booster, consisting of 18 GHz superconducting ECR ion source, 75 MHz room temperature RFQ linac and superconducting low-beta resonator cavities. The development of an alternate injector will further enhance the utilization capability of LINAC by covering heavier mass range up to Uranium. The ECR source is being configured jointly with M/s Pantechnik, France, which will deliver a variety of ion beams with high charge states up to 238U34+. This paper will provide detailed presentation of developments being carried out at this facility.
