Development of a solenoid spectrometer for nuclear astrophysical studies of fusion reactions near stellar energies

A solenoid spectrometer for nuclear astrophysics (SSNAP) has been developed to study heavy-ion fusion reactions of astrophysical importance near stellar energies. Charged particles follow helical trajectories within the strong magnetic field of a superconducting solenoid. The 12C(12C,p)23Na reaction was studied as the first measurement using the solenoid spectrometer at the University of Notre Dame within the energy range of Ec.m.=4.0 to 6.0 MeV. This experiment demonstrated that the solenoid spectrometer is able to provide outstanding capability for detection of light charged particles produced by nuclear fusion reactions having a relatively wide energy range.