Our facility has a history that can be traced back to 1971 with the privilege of being the first nuclear physics laboratory utilizing a 14-MeV neutron generator in the country. It was modestly started with the Karman type sealed tube neutron generator of which later, in 1984, was advanced to the SAMES type 150-kV drifted tube neutron generator under the support from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA. Vienna). It has then become our tradition to work in areas that have accelerators as the work-horse. We built more low energy ion accelerators by ourselves. In 2000, a generous offering of  1.7 MV tandem “Tandetron” accelerator from the Department of Physics of Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden has raised us up to the MeV region. It is still the first and only tandem accelerator in the country. We are now active in several advanced research projects related to accelerator and plasma technology applications for fulfilling homeland needs of having more qualified young experimental physicists and useful technological spin-offs. Over the past 37 years, the facility has been continually converted, from fast neutron research and applications, into a beam physics research and applications. In addition, various plasma generators had been built for research in basic and applications of low temperature plasma physics and related fields. Thus, in 2008, the facility has been renamed from “Fast Neutron Research Facility (FNRF)” to “Plasma and Beam Physics Research Facility (PBP)”. The Facility is fully supported by vacuum, electronics and machine workshops.

OBJECTIVES & ACTIVITIES

The FNRF was set up for the purpose of promoting advanced research in Physics by using fast neutron studies of both fundamental and applied nature as a starting nucleus. The laboratory has expanded with the addition of a new facility (Ion Beam Technology Center) to include research in materials modification by ion beam and ion plasma systems.

2. To initiate multidisciplinary research. Current activities include ion implantation of various materials such as metals for tribological improvement, living cells for induction of mutation and DNA transfer, and gemstones for gemological modification.

3. To acquire knowledge in relativistic particle physics, a de-commissioned electron RF Linac, once used in the university hospital, has been modified to be a source of a 20-MeV electron beam. This will later be part of the Suriya femto-second FIR (Far Infrared) project.

4. To set-up the first ion beam analysis (IBA) facility for the country, in addition to those existing FNAA (Fast Neutron Activation Analysis), XRF (x-ray resonance fluoresence) and AFM (Atomic Force Microscopy) analysis units, we are currently working on the RBS (Rutherford Back Scattering) technique (and now includes the PIXE technique) by using a 1.7-MV “Tandetron”.