High energy-resolution zero-degree facility for light-ion scattering and reactions at iThemba LABS

The setup and experimental techniques for measurements of zero-degree inelastic scattering and reactions involving light ions with the K=600 magnetic spectrometer at iThemba LABS are described. Measurements were performed for inelastic proton scattering at an incident energy of 200 MeV for targets ranging from 27Al to 208Pb. An energy-resolution of 45 keV (FWHM) was achieved by utilizing the faint-beam dispersion-matching technique. A background subtraction procedure was applied and allowed for the extraction of excitation energy spectra with low background. Measurements of the (p,t) reaction at zero degrees for Ep=100 and 200 MeV benefited from the difference in magnetic rigidity between the reaction products and the beam particles, resulting in background-free spectra with an excitation energy-resolution of 32 and 48 keV (FWHM), respectively, and a scattering angle resolution of 0.55° (FWHM). The addition of Double Sided Silicon Strip Detectors (DSSSD) at backward scattering angles allowed for coincident measurements of particle-decay of states excited in the (p,t) reaction at Ep=200MeV.