Study of resonant reactions with radioactive ion beams

Abstract

A fast and efficient method to study (p,p) and (p,α) resonances with radioactive beams in inverse kinematics is described. It is based on the use of thick targets and large area double-sided silicon strip detectors (DSSDs) to detect the recoiling light-charged particles and to determine precisely their scattering angle. The first nuclear physics experiments with the technique have been performed recently at the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility (HRIBF) at Oak Ridge with stable beams of 17 O and radioactive beams of 17 F . The high-quality resonance measurements obtained demonstrate the capabilities of the technique. Pure 17 F beams from HRIBF were produced by fully stripping the ions and separating the interfering and more abundant 17 O ions by the beam transport system. The removal of interfering isobars is one of the various common challenges to both accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) and radioactive ion beam (RIB) production. Experiments done with RIBs will benefit from the use of the most efficient techniques for production, isobar separation, transport and detection.