Study of the

The existence of ^{26}Al (t_{1/2}=7.17×10^{5} yr) in the interstellar medium provides a direct confirmation of ongoing nucleosynthesis in the Galaxy. The presence of a low-lying 0^{+} isomer (^{26}Al^{m}), however, severely complicates the astrophysical calculations. We present for the first time a study of the ^{26}Al^{m}(d,p)^{27}Al reaction using an isomeric ^{26}Al beam. The selectivity of this reaction allowed the study of ℓ=0 transfers to T=1/2, and T=3/2 states in ^{27}Al. Mirror symmetry arguments were then used to constrain the ^{26}Al^{m}(p,γ)^{27}Si reaction rate and provide an experimentally determined upper limit of the rate for the destruction of isomeric ^{26}Al via radiative proton capture reactions, which is expected to dominate the destruction path of ^{26}Al^{m} in asymptotic giant branch stars, classical novae, and core collapse supernovae.

Measurements of fusion reactions of low-intensity radioactive carbon beams on 12C and their implications for the understanding of X-ray bursts.

The interaction between neutron-rich nuclei plays an important role for understanding the reaction mechanism of the fusion process as well as for the energy production through pycnonuclear reactions in the crust of neutron stars. We have performed the first measurements of the total fusion cross sections in the systems (10,14,15)C+(12)C using a new active target-detector system. In the energy region accessible with existing radioactive beams, a good agreement between the experimental and theoretical cross sections is observed. This gives confidence in our ability to calculate fusion cross sections for systems which are outside the range of today's radioactive beam facilities.

Progress of laser ablation for accelerator mass spectroscopy at ATLAS utilizing an ECRIS.

Beams of ions from the laser ablation method of solid materials into an electron cyclotron resonance ion source (ECRIS) plasma have been used for the first time in experiments at ATLAS. Initial accelerator mass spectroscopy experiments using laser ablation for actinides and samarium have been performed. Initial results of coupling the laser system to the ECR source have guided us in making a number of changes to the original design. The point of laser impact has been moved off axis from the center of the ECR injection side. Motor control of the laser positioning mirror has been replaced with a faster and more reliable piezo-electric system, and different raster scan patterns have been tested. The use of the laser system in conjunction with a multi-sample changer has been implemented. Two major problems that are being confronted at this time are beam stability and total beam intensity. The status of the development will be presented and ideas for further improvements will be discussed.