[en] Preparing a good quality target is one of the major aspects of any nuclear physics study. Targets for nuclear reaction and spectroscopic study can be prepared by various methods, viz. e-beam deposition, thermal evaporation, sputtering, rolling, solvent casting method, etc. Most of these techniques are very adequate for preparing thin targets from metallic sample elements (except sputtering, which can be used to prepare targets from oxide material). In some cases, the required study element or isotope is more easily available in oxide forms. Preparing targets from oxide composition requires a different approach. Preparation of thick targets (few hundred microns to mm) can be done by pelletization. For thin targets, sputtering can be used, but for that also, a solid piece of oxide sample is required. Preparation of thin targets from powder samples can be done by the electro-deposition method. Here, a simple electro-deposition setup has been presented

[en] In the star, heavier nuclei are thought to be synthesized by the neutron capture and βdecay processes. But the origin of some proton rich nuclei (known as p-nuclei) is not explained by this process. In this work, ¹¹³In (α, α) ¹¹³In elastic scattering has been performed, and obtained local Wood-Saxon optical potential parameters. The study on ¹¹³In has special importance. The maximum p-nuclei are even-even, however, ¹¹³In is an odd A p-nucleus and has a non-zero ground state spin parity (9/2⁺). Furthermore, the ¹¹³In production process is still not properly understood. Therefore, accurate determination of the α-optical potential is required for the ¹¹³In (α, γ) reaction

[en] To perform nuclear astrophysics (NA) experiments in laboratory, a high current ion-beam is required due to its low fusion or capture cross-section. Now high current beam will generate a huge amount of heat inside the target. Such high temperature can cause melting of target. So a cooling arrangement is required to perform such high current experiment without melting issues. Now heat generated inside a thin target (much less than projectile range) is much less compared to thick targets (greater than projectile range). And for that reason melting is not such a big issue for thin targets

[en] In Nuclear Astrophysics (NA) experiments low fusion or capture cross-section make the measurements with appreciable accuracy difficult. In order to improve the statistical accuracy in a reasonable time of the beam time, a high current is desirable. The purpose of this simulation will be to develop an idea about the amount of heating generated in the target, its temperature profile and how the temperature can be controlled by heat dissipation and the different factors on which it depends. The simulation will mostly be based on the physical concepts and more realistic aspects that will lead to the design of a cooling setup which will be developed based on the present basic study

[en] Beyond Fe, there is a class of 35 proton-rich nuclides, between ⁷⁴Se and ¹⁹⁶Hg, called p-nuclei. They are by passed by the s and r neutron capture processes and are typically 10–1000 times less abundant than the s- and/or r-isotopes in the solar system. There is a typical abundance of ~ 1% for lighter nuclei with 34 ≤ Z ≤ 50 and 0.01-0.3% for medium and heavier nuclei with an atomic number >50. Generally, the abundance of p-nuclei decreases with an increase in atomic number, but for neutron magic p-nuclei ⁹²Mo and ¹⁴⁴Sm, it is 14.52% and 3.08%, respectively. So, the study of these nuclei is important to understand why they are more abundant. For this reason, more detailed and precise information about the reaction cross-section in the astrophysical energy region is extremely important. In this article, the first step of any reaction, which is target preparation, is discussed. Many isotopically enriched targets are more easily available in oxide powder form. Those target materials are not suitable for target preparation with an e-beam, thermal processing, or sputtering. Apart from that, target material waste in these techniques is one of the major disadvantages for expensive materials. For all of these reasons, samarium targets made from Sm₂O₃ powder were created using the molecular deposition technique. To prepare targets with the least amount of material loss, a simple, low cost setup was used. Natural and 144-enriched samarium targets with thicknesses ranging from 100 to 400 μg/cm₂ have been successfully prepared using this method. (author)

[en] The most of heavy nuclei are formed in stars through neutron capture and β-decays in the s- or r-process. But 30-35 neutron deficient nuclei are produced by the photo-disintegration process instead of neutron capture, known as p-nuclei. Photo-disintegration process is a combination of (γ, n), (γ, p), and (γ, α) reactions on existing s and r seeds nuclei in high γ-flux scenario. Performing an γ-induced reaction in a laboratory framework is challenging. So, the principle of detailed balance can be used to obtain γ-induced reaction cross-sections from the inverse reaction cross-section. In many cases the final nucleus of an astrophysically important reaction is radioactive, so it is possible to calculate the cross section using anion measurement of the number of produced isotopes. This offline technique is known as activation method. In this study, nat In(α, γ) reaction cross-sections were determined at VECC using the activation method with an alpha beam in the laboratory energy range 10-18 MeV. However, lowest beam energy available from the Cyclotron (K130) is 28 MeV To encounter this constrain we have used degrader foils to get lower energy alpha. The measured (α, γ) cross-sections will be analyzed in the framework of statistical model codes suitable for low energy reactions such as TALYS. (author)

[en] Beyond Fe, there is a class of 35 proton-rich nuclides, between ⁷⁴Se and ¹⁹⁶Hg, called p-nuclei. They are by passed by the s and r neutron capture processes and are typically 10-1000 times less abundant than the s and r isotopes in the solar system. There is a typical abundance of ~1% for lighter nuclei with 34 ≤ Z ≤ 50 and 0.01-0.3% for medium and heavier nuclei with an atomic number >50. Generally, the abundance of p-nuclei decreases with an increase in atomic number, but for neutron magic p-nuclei ⁹²Mo and ¹⁴⁴Sm, it is 14.52% and 3.08%, respectively. So the study of these nuclei is important to understand why they are more abundant. For this reason, more detailed and precise information about the reaction cross-section in the astrophysical energy region is extremely important. The primary aim of experimental nuclear astrophysics is to determine the rates of nuclear reactions taking place in stars under various astrophysical conditions. The typical gamma spectrum of the ¹⁴⁴Sm (p, γ) ¹⁴⁵Eu reaction (T_1/2 5.93 d), with the most intense gamma-rays from ¹⁴⁵Eu has been highlighted in box, rest are background and impurities in backing Al-foil. The details of the data analysis of the reaction cross sections will be presented during the conference

[en] This work presents a time-dependent numerical calculation of heat generation and dissipation in targets used in high ion-beam current nuclear astrophysics experiments. The simulation is beneficial for choosing the thickness of targets, maximum ion-beam current and design set-up for cooling of such targets. It is found that for a very thin target (²⁷Al(p,p),¹²C(p,p)) heat generation inside target is relatively low and a fair amount of high current (few μA) can be used without any melting issue. But in case of thick targets (²⁷Al(p,γ),¹²C(p,γ)) cooling became essential for the survival of reaction target.