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Research Facilities

As a laboratory, TRIUMF operates many research facilities on-site and enables Canadian researchers to participate in facilities outside the country.  The main facilities at TRIUMF are:

 

500 MeV Cyclotron & Proton Beam Lines

At the heart of TRIUMF is the 500 MeV cyclotron that produces the primary proton beams. A large fraction of the TRIUMF program relies on these beams.

Advanced Rare-Isotope Laboratory (ARIEL)

ARIEL will be TRIUMF's flagship facility to expand Canada's capabilities to produce and study isotopes for physics and medicine. Utilizing next-generation technology, it showcases a Made-in-Canada, high-power superconducting electron linear accelerator (e-linac) to produce exotic isotopes for research and development.

ATLAS Canadian Tier-1 Data Centre

The ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN will use proton-proton collisions at the highest energy ever achieved in the laboratory to look for the Higgs boson, the particle central to the current model of how subatomic particles attain mass.

Centre for Molecular & Materials Science (CMMS)

TRIUMF uses subatomic particles as probes of materials structure at the Centre for Molecular and Materials Science (CMMS).  The chief techniques are μSR and β-NMR.

ISAC Facilities for Rare-Isotope Beams

The TRIUMF Isotope Separator and Accelerator (ISAC) facility uses the isotope separation on-line (ISOL) technique to produce rare-isotope beams (RIB). The ISOL system consists of a primary production beam, a target/ion source, a mass separator, and beam transport system.

Science Technology Department

TRIUMF contributes to the design, development, and construction of advanced detectors for diverse applications in particle and nuclear physics, molecular and materials sciences, and nuclear medicine.

Life Science Laboratories

The core of the TRIUMF life sciences program is PET imaging, a technique whereby tiny amounts of radioactive nuclei known as radioisotopes are combined with certain biomolecules and injected into the body.

Proton & Neutron Irradiation Facilities (PIF & NIF)

The Proton Irradiation Facility (PIF) is used for radiation damage and single event effect studies of electronic and detector components. The Neutron Irradiation Facility (NIF) uses neutrons produced at the final beam stop on BL1A where greater than 100 µA of 450 MeV protons are absorbed.

Ultra-Cold Neutrons (UCN)

The Ultra-Cold Neutron Facility (UCN)  is a based on a collaboration of groups from Canada, Japan, and the USA. Its' goal is to provide the world's highest density of ultra-cold neutrons. The facility is currently under installation and testing, and will come on line in 2016/2017.

Future Facilities

TRIUMF's Five-Year Plan outlines a number of areas of desired expansion which includes:

  • Refurbish the Cyclotron
  • Specialized Actinide Beam Line
  • New Target Station
  • Front End
  • Institute for Advanced Medical Isotopes (IAMI)