A new experimental setup established for low-energy nuclear astrophysics studies

Abstract

An experimental setup for low-energy nuclear astrophysics studies has been recently established at the Institute of Modern Physics (IMP), Lanzhou, China. The driver machine is a 320kV high voltage platform, which can provide intense currents of proton, alpha and many heavy ion beams. The energy of a proton beam was calibrated against the nominal platform high voltage by using a well-known resonant reaction of 11B(p,γ)12C and a non-resonant reaction 12C(p,γ)13N. The accuracy was achieved to be better than ±0.5keV. The detection system consists of a Clover-type high-purity germanium detector, a silicon detector and a plastic scintillator. The performance of the detectors was tested by several experiments. The astrophysical S-factors of the 7Li(p,γ)8Be and 7Li(p,α)3He reactions were measured with this new setup, and our data agree with the values found in the literature. In addition, the upgrade of our driver machine and experimental setup has been discussed. As a future goal, a fascinating National Deep Underground Laboratory in China, the deepest underground laboratory all over the world, is prospected.