A recoil separator for use in radioactive ion beam experiments

Abstract

The effectiveness of a recoil separator for the measurement of radiative capture reactions at radioactive ion beam facilities has been examined. A system consisting of velocity, energy, and momentum filters was tested with the ^1H(^(12)C, ^(13)N)γ reaction at the E_(cm) = 422 keV resonance; excitation functions obtained with both the ^(13)N recoils and the capture gamma rays were compared. Projectile ^(12)C fluxes were measured directly with Faraday cups and indirectly with Rutherford backscattering into silicon detectors, while the ^(13)N recoil flux was measured directly with silicon detectors and indirectly by its residual radioactivity. A suppression of the ^(12)C beam particles by a factor of 10^(−10) was observed when the system was tuned for the recoil ^(13)N's. Possible improvements of the system are discussed.

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