Measuring total reaction cross-sections at energies near the coulomb barrier by the active target method

An experimental technique is described that is able to measure reaction cross-sections at energies around the Coulomb barrier by using low intensity beams and a Si detector as an active target. Set-up optimization was carefully investigated in terms of collimation, detector efficiency and pile-up rejection. The method has been tested by measuring the total reaction cross-section σR(E) for the 7Li+28Si system in the energy range of Elab=12–16 MeV. The deduced excitation function σR(E) agrees with the data obtained in a previous experiment. The presented technique can also be applied in order to determine total reaction cross-sections for low intensity radioactive beams at energies around the Coulomb barrier.