Thick-target inverse kinematic method in order to investigate alpha-clustering in²¹²Po

¹ Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare – Sezione di Catania, via Santa Sofia n. 64, 95123, Catania, Italy
² Dipartimento di Fisica ed Astronomia, Università di Catania, via Santa Sofia n. 64, 95123, Catania, Italy
³ Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare – Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, via Santa Sofia n. 64, 95123, Catania, Italy
⁴ Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Padova, via F. Marzolo 8, I–35131, Padova, Italy
⁵ Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare – Sezione di Padova, via F. Marzolo 8, I–35131, Padova, Italy

^* Corresponding author: mariagrazia.pellegriti@ct.infn.it

Published online: 4 December 2019

Abstract

The inverse-kinematic thick-target method has been used in order to investigate ²¹²Po alpha-structure by the elastic scattering of ²⁰⁸Pb on ⁴He target. A ²⁰⁸Pb beam, accelerated by the Superconducting Cyclotron (CS) of Laboratori Nazionali del Sud - INFN, at the incident energy of 10.1 A MeV was impinging onto a specifically designed ⁴He gas cell, two meter long. The gas cell wasacting both as target and as beam degrader, stopping the beam before reaching the alpha-particle detection system placed at 0° with respect to the beam axis. In order to disentangle the elastic contribution from other reaction channels (e.g. inelastic scattering) a microchannel plate was used to measure the Time of Flight(ToF) of both the ²⁰⁸Pb beam particles and the ejectiles along the gas cell. The ²⁰⁸Pbstopping power in the ⁴He gas target was also measured, as a key ingredient in order to establish theinteraction point inside the gas cell, in turn determining the solid angle covered by the detector. In the following, the experimental technique will be described, and the results of a preliminary data analysis will be shown.