Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
5492780 | Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment | 2017 | 6 Pages |
Abstract
Radiative alpha-capture, (α,γ), reactions play a critical role in nucleosynthesis and nuclear energy generation in a variety of astrophysical environments. The St. George recoil separator at the University of Notre Dame's Nuclear Science Laboratory was developed to measure (α,γ) reactions in inverse kinematics via recoil detection in order to obtain nuclear reaction cross sections at the low energies of astrophysical interest, while avoiding the γ-background that plagues traditional measurement techniques. Due to the γ ray produced by the nuclear reaction at the target location, recoil nuclei are produced with a variety of energies and angles, all of which must be accepted by St. George in order to accurately determine the reaction cross section. We demonstrate the energy acceptance of the St. George recoil separator using primary beams of helium, hydrogen, neon, and oxygen, spanning the magnetic and electric rigidity phase space populated by recoils of anticipated (α,γ) reaction measurements. We find the performance of St. George meets the design specifications, demonstrating its suitability for (α,γ) reaction measurements of astrophysical interest.
Keywords
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Physics and Astronomy
Instrumentation
Authors
Z. Meisel, M.T. Moran, G. Gilardy, J. Schmitt, C. Seymour, M. Couder,