Coulomb Excitation with CARIBU Beams: Octupole Strength in $^{144}$Ba Measured with GRETINA and CHICO2

The neutron-rich barium isotopes sit in one of the few mass regions on the nuclear chart observed to display octupole correlations. These isotopes are challenging to study since they lie far from stability and are thus difficult to produce in large quantities. In particular, this region is interesting for studying the evolution of octupole correlations since the enhancement of the E1 strength drops by an order of magnitude from $^{144}$Ba to $^{146}$Ba, where shell corrections appear to play a significant role. To provide unambiguous insight into the octupole correlations, B(E3) strengths have been measured using Coulomb excitation of $^{144}$Ba beams at 650 MeV on a 1 mg/cm$^2$ $^{208}$Pb target. This experiment represents the first successful measurement utilizing re-accelerated CARIBU beams combined with the $\gamma$-ray tracking array GRETINA and the auxiliary charged-particle detector CHICO2. Preliminary results from the experiment will be presented.