HIRFL-CSR internal cluster target

Since HIRFL-CSR internal cluster target was built, it has played a key role in in-ring experiments at HIRFL-CSR. So far it have been operated with five gas species as targets for scattering experiments, i.e. hydrogen, nitrogen, argon, neon, and krypton. The obtained highest thickness for hydrogen target amounts up to 1012 atoms/cm2, and those of other targets are larger than 1013 atoms/cm2 with the background pressure of 10−11 mbar in CSR. The target thickness can be varied by regulating the nozzle temperature and pressure of the inlet gas. The first online internal target experiment dedicated to investigate radioactive electron capture (REC) process with Xe54+ ions colliding with the nitrogen target demonstrated the stability and reliability of the internal target system. In addition, hydrogen and krypton were also tested online in recent experiments, which indicate the target system can meet experimental requirements for the thickness of target, pressure in scattering chamber, and long-term stability.