Piet Van Duppen

Research interests

Nuclear-structure studies of exotic nuclei and their production using laser ionization are my field of interest. I’m studying the way the atomic nucleus is built from protons and neutrons through experimental studies of isotopes with an unusual proton-to-neutron ratio. These so called exotic nuclei have to be produced at accelerators, are often only available in very small amounts and have in many cases a very short half life. The main experimental challenge is therefore to develop and use efficient and selective production (e.g. resonant laser ionization) and detection (e.g. germanium and silicon detectors) techniques. Ground-state and decay properties of different radioactive isotopes are investigated and, after post-acceleration, nuclear reactions are studied. This research is aimed to get a better understanding of the strong- and weak interactions at play in the nuclear medium.

• Nuclear Physics: nuclear structure and radioactive beams (investigation of the structure of the atomic nucleus through the production of new - so called - exotic isotopes and the study of their decay and reaction characteristics)
• Radiation Detection: use of different types of radiation detectors (germanium and silicon) and their electronics
• Radioactive Ion Beams and Laser Ionization: post-acceleration of radioactive ion beams and resonance laser ionization of exotic nuclei