TY - CONF
T1 - NG-TRAP
T2 - 16th Symposium on Nuclei in the Cosmos, NIC-XVI 2021
AU - Dickel, T.
AU - Mardor, I.
AU - Wilsenach, H.
AU - Ashkenazy, J.
AU - Plaß, W. R.
AU - Scheidenberger, C.
AU - Yavor, M. I.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
PY - 2022/2/24
Y1 - 2022/2/24
N2 - We lack significant nuclear physics input to understand the rapid-neutron capture (r-)process fully. The r-process is the source of half the elements heavier than iron and the only way to produce the long-lived actinides we find on earth. This process's key nuclear physics inputs are nuclear masses, cross-sections of (n,γ) and (γ,n), and decay half-lives and branching ratios of neutron-rich isotopes. However, there is currently no method to directly measure neutron-induced reaction rates on short-lived nuclides, so there is no experimental data for the primary nuclear reaction that drives the r-process. We show here a conceptual design of a novel approach to access this information experimentally. The idea is to form a target of short-lived isotopes by confining them as ions in a radio-frequency (RF) trap. Next, they are irradiated with an intense neutron flux, and the reaction products are identified by mass spectrometry. The chosen method is a two-stage process in the presence of high neutron fluxes. The first process is neutron-induced fission in a thin actinide foil to create fission fragments. These fragments are slowed down in a cryogenic stopping cell before being filtered through a radio frequency quadrupole (RFQ) system. The RFQ system selects fission fragments of a specific atomic mass number A and confines them to a small volume in an RF trap, where they are irradiated for a second time in a controlled manner. The resultant A+1 isotopes are mass-selectively transported to a multiple-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer, where the reaction products are identified and counted.
AB - We lack significant nuclear physics input to understand the rapid-neutron capture (r-)process fully. The r-process is the source of half the elements heavier than iron and the only way to produce the long-lived actinides we find on earth. This process's key nuclear physics inputs are nuclear masses, cross-sections of (n,γ) and (γ,n), and decay half-lives and branching ratios of neutron-rich isotopes. However, there is currently no method to directly measure neutron-induced reaction rates on short-lived nuclides, so there is no experimental data for the primary nuclear reaction that drives the r-process. We show here a conceptual design of a novel approach to access this information experimentally. The idea is to form a target of short-lived isotopes by confining them as ions in a radio-frequency (RF) trap. Next, they are irradiated with an intense neutron flux, and the reaction products are identified by mass spectrometry. The chosen method is a two-stage process in the presence of high neutron fluxes. The first process is neutron-induced fission in a thin actinide foil to create fission fragments. These fragments are slowed down in a cryogenic stopping cell before being filtered through a radio frequency quadrupole (RFQ) system. The RFQ system selects fission fragments of a specific atomic mass number A and confines them to a small volume in an RF trap, where they are irradiated for a second time in a controlled manner. The resultant A+1 isotopes are mass-selectively transported to a multiple-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer, where the reaction products are identified and counted.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85140763082&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1051/epjconf/202226011021
DO - 10.1051/epjconf/202226011021
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AN - SCOPUS:85140763082
Y2 - 21 September 2021 through 25 September 2021
ER -