First Experiments with Accelerated Radioactive Ion-Beams at Rex-Isolde

The first experiments using post-accelerated radioactive ion beams from REX-ISOLDE have taken place during 2002 after approximately six years of development. The novel techniques used for the production of the radioactive ion beam as well as at the experimental set-up are described in this paper. It is attempted to show that REX-ISOLDE is a unique machine for experiments in nuclear physics as it involves methods for beam production that lie closer to front-line physics research than to traditional accclerator construction.