The ALTO facility at IPN Orsay and study of neutron rich nuclei in the vincinity of 78Ni

The ALTO facility at IPN Orsay is based on a linear electron accelerator (50 MeV, 10μA) dedicated to the production of neutron rich radiactive beams by photofission of a thick uranium carbide target paced on an ISOL line. The construction of the facility has ended in december 2005 and the first on-line tests have been carried out in mid-2006. The production of fission fragments after separation have been measured and are similar to the calculated predictions. Previously, using the same ISOL line, neutron rich nuclei in the vincinity of 78Ni have been produced and studied using the deuteron beam available at the Tandem accelerator in Orsay. First results on excited states in and have been obtained and discussed in the frame of the shell model.