Development of an active 238UF6 gas target

At the superconducting 130 MeV Darmstadt electron linac S-DALINAC a new source of spin-polarized electrons using a GaAs cathode has been installed, opening the path for experiments with polarized electron and photon beams for nuclear structure studies at low momentum transfers, e.g., the search for forward-backward asymmetries originating from parity non-conservation (PNC) in the photon-induced fission process of U-238. Detailed studies of different properties, e.g., the energy dependence of fission modes, the population of fission isomers, or the search for (PNC) effects in the photon-induced fission process of U-238, depends on high quality data, therefore needing high luminosities. An active gas target containing uranium may overcome the problem that large solid target thicknesses cause poor energy and angular resolution. A single Frisch-grid ionization chamber has been built to test a mixture of standard counting gases (e.g., argon) with depleted uranium-hexafluoride (238UF6) using a triple alpha source, evaluating signal quality and drift velocity. For mass fractions up to 2 percent of U-238 in the counting gas. The drift velocity increases with rising UF6 content, while a good signal quality and energy resolution is preserved.

ECKARDT C.;  ENDERS J.;  FREUDENBERGER M.;  GÖÖK A.;  VON NEUMANN-COSEL P.;  OBERSTEDT A.;  OBERSTEDT Stephan; 

2012-10-10

ELSEVIER BV

JRC73864

1875-3892,   

https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC73864,   

10.1016/j.phpro.2012.04.019,