The Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IMP) was founded in 1957. As of 2019, there are 884 staff, and 286 postgraduate students studying for master or doctoral degree. With the development of over six decades, particularly active and fruitful collaborations with more than forty institutions worldwide, IMP has become a leading research center of heavy-ion science in China.
IMP conducts researches on ion accelerator physics and technology. IMP designs, constructs and operates the Heavy Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou (HIRFL), consisted of the Sector Focusing Cyclotron (SFC), the Separated Sector Cyclotron (SSC), the main and experimental Cooler Storage Ring (CSRm and CSRe), and a number of experimental installations. The SFC was commissioned in 1962, and the SSC and CSR were built successively in 1988 and 2007, having boosted ion acceleration from 10% to 60% of the speed of light. HIRFL provides ion beams from proton through uranium, serving local research groups and growing national and international user communities. To improve the beam intensity and operation efficiency of HIRFL, the Institute has proposed the High Intensity Heavy Ion Accelerator Facility (HIAF), a cutting-edge research facility for heavy-ion science. The construction of HIAF was started in December 2018 and will be completed by December 2025.
Based on HIRFL, IMP dedicates to fundamental researches in nuclear physics, nuclear astrophysics, and atomic physics, mainly including the high-accuracy mass measurements of short-lived nuclides, nuclear structures and reactions, properties of nuclear matter, synthesis of new super-heavy isotopes, chemistry of super-heavy elements, nuclear reactions in stellar environments, spectroscopies and interactions of highly-charged ions, and heavy-ion cancer therapy techniques. Since the operation of CSR in 2008, IMP has defined the high-accuracy mass measurements of short-lived nuclides as the top priority in fundamental research fields at IMP. To date, over 40 nuclear masses are measured with a precision of up to 10-6~10-7 by using isochronous mass spectrometry, and their implications in nuclear structure and nuclear astrophysics are investigated.
Guided by national strategic needs, IMP devotes to research on accelerator driven sub-critical System, candidate materials for advanced nuclear energy systems with high performance and space device detection and development, in order to develop highly efficient, clean and safe strategic energy.
Meanwhile, IMP conducts extensive heavy-ion application researches at HIRFL. Heavy-ion cancer therapy has been developed since 2006, and so far 223 patients with shallow-seated or deep-seated cancers have been treated effectively. With the local supports from governments and in collaboration with the hospitals，two dedicated heavy-ion treatment facilities are under construction in Lanzhou city and Wuwei city, Gansu province. New varieties of agricultural and commercial crops have been cultivated by using heavy-ion mutation breeding methods. An early-maturating variety of sweet sorghum is isolated, and large-scale planting is underway in west China. HIRFL has provided an important platform to evaluate single particle effects of electronic devices used in space, and the assessment work has contributed much to space science in China. In addition, we have done much work on material irradiation related to the development of future nuclear energy.
For the future, IMP has innovatively proposed to construct Accelerator Driven Advanced Nuclear Energy System (ADANES), composed of ADANES burner (China Initiative Accelerator-Driven System (CiADS)) and Accelerator Driven Recycling Used Fuel (ADRUF). CiADS has been approved by the National Development and Reform Commission together with HIAF. IMP is working to write another brilliant chapter in the history of heavy ion science and technology.
More information can be found at http://english.imp.cas.cn/.
