(t,³He) experiments

To perform (t,³He) experiments at the NSCL, a ¹⁶O beam of 150 MeV/u is accelerated in the NSCL Coupled Cyclotron Facility. This primary beam impinges on a thick Be production target, placed at the entrance of the A1900 fragment seperator. Tritons of 115 MeV/u are selected in the A1900, with a momentum spread of 0.5%. A wedge can be used to remove small contaminants from other particles produced in the reaction. The schematic layout is shown below.

Production of a secondary triton beam using the CCF and the A1900 fragment separator.

The S800 spectrometer

The triton beam is then transported to the S800 target station, where a thin foil made of the material of interest is placed. The magnetic field of the S800 spectrometer is set to accept ³He particles, which are detected in its focal plane. The S800 magnetic spectrometer is run in dispersion matched mode to achieve energy resolutions of ~200 keV. The S800 spectrometer is shown to the right. Further details can be found on the S800 website. (t,³He) experiments are used for a variety of purposes, including astrophysics and double beta decay.