Active Target for α-Particle Condensation Studies in 16O

• Published in: Journal of contemporary physics Vol. 54; no. 2; pp. 117 - 125
• Main Authors: Margaryan, A. T., Khachatryan, V. H., Vardanyan, H. S., Grigoryan, N. K., Ajvazyan, R. B., Kakoyan, V. H., Khachatryan, P. A., Zhamkochyan, S. V., Balabanski, D. L., Annand, J. R. M., Livingston, K., Montgomery, R., Filikh, I., Mohammad, A., Vlahovic, B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Moscow Pleiades Publishing 2019; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Alpha particles; Alpha rays; Backscattering; Condensates; Cyclotrons; Low pressure; Nuclei (nuclear physics); Oxygen atoms; Particle and Nuclear Physics; Photodisintegration; Photon beams; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Proton beams; Sensors; Hoyle state; active target; α-partial condensate; O
• ISSN: 1068-3372; 1934-9378
• DOI: 10.3103/S1068337219020026

An active target has been developed for studying the Hoyle like states in 16 O. It is a position and time sensitive detector system based on the Low-Pressure Multy-Wire Proportional Chamber (LPMWPC) technique and Si detectors. The few Torr pressure of methyl ((OCH 3 ) 2 CH 2 ) serves as a working gas for the LPMWPC operation, and the oxygen atoms of the methyl molecules serve as an experimental target. The main advantage of this new target-detector system is a high sensitivity to the low-energy, highly ionizing particles, produced after photodisintegration of 16 O, and the insensitivity to the γ-rays and low ionizing particles, which allows one to detect only the products of the nuclear reaction, which are studied. The threshold energies for detection of α particles and 12C nuclei are about 50 keV and 100 keV, respectively. Temporal and positional resolution of the LPMWPC modules was investigated with the use of the α-particle source. This paper discusses the architecture of the active target and the test results of the prototype MWPC detector. This installation has been constructed to study the cluster states at 15.1 MeV in 16 O using the proton beams from the Yerevan proton cyclotron and the Compton backscattered photon beams of the ELI-NP facility.