30S RI Beam Production and X-ray Bursts

TL;DR

This paper reports progress in producing a 30S radioactive ion beam to measure the 30S(alpha,p) reaction rate, crucial for understanding X-ray bursts on neutron stars, with plans for future experiments in 2009.

Contribution

Development of a 30S radioactive beam suitable for astrophysical reaction rate measurements, advancing experimental capabilities for nuclear astrophysics research.

Findings

Successful production of 30S beam via 3He(28Si,30S)n reaction.

Estimated beam intensity of ~10^5 particles/sec at 32 MeV achievable in 2009.

Planned measurement of 4He(30S,p) cross-section at astrophysical energies.

Abstract

The present work reports the results of 30S radioactive beam development for a future experiment directly measuring data to extrapolate the 30S(alpha,p) stellar reaction rate in Type I X-ray bursts, a phenomena where nuclear explosions occur repeatedly on the surface of accreting neutron stars. We produce the radioactive ion 30S via the 3He(28Si,30S)n reaction, by bombarding a cryogenically cooled target of 3He at 400 Torr and 80 K with 28Si beams of 6.9 and 7.54 MeV/u. In order to perform a successful future experiment which allows us to calculate the stellar 30S(alpha, p) reaction rate, Hauser-Feshbach calculations indicate we require a 30S beam of ~10^5 particles per second at ~32 MeV. Based on our recent beam development experiments in 2006 and 2008, it is believed that such a beam may be fabricated in 2009 according to the results presented. We plan to measure the 4He(30S,p) cross-section at astrophysical energies in 2009, and some brief remarks on the planned (alpha,p) technique are also elucidated.