Preparation of targets for the gas-filled recoil separator TASCA by electrochemical deposition and design of the TASCA target wheel assembly

The Transactinide Separator and Chemistry Apparatus (TASCA) is a recoil separator with maximized transmission designed for performing advanced chemical studies as well as nuclear reaction and structure investigations of the transactinide elements (Z>103) on a one-atom-at-a-time basis. TASCA will provide a very clean transactinide fraction with negligible contamination of lighter elements from nuclear side reactions in the target.For TASCA a new target chamber was designed and built at GSI including the rotating target wheel assembly ARTESIA for beam intensities up to 2 μA (particle). For the production of longer-lived isotopes of neutron-rich heavier actinide and transactinide elements, hot fusion reactions with actinide targets are required. Here, possible target materials range from thorium up to curium or even heavier elements.For the deposition of lanthanide and actinide elements on thin aluminum and titanium backings by means of Molecular Plating (MP), a new deposition cell has been constructed that allows precise temperature control of the organic solvent and stirring of the solution. The electrode geometry ensures homogeneity of the electric field inside the cell. With the new set-up, holmium and gadolinium layers (500 μg/cm2) on 2–5 μm thin titanium backings have been produced with deposition yields of the order of 90%. Systematic investigations are under way to further optimize the deposition conditions for other lanthanide and actinide elements including uranium and plutonium on different backing materials.