MuSIC@Indiana: an effective tool for accurate measurement of fusion with low-intensity radioactive beams

TL;DR

MuSIC@Indiana is a newly developed ionization chamber that accurately measures fusion cross-sections at near-barrier energies, demonstrating effectiveness with low-intensity radioactive beams and providing reliable excitation function data.

Contribution

The paper introduces MuSIC@Indiana, a novel detector that improves measurement accuracy and efficiency for fusion reactions involving low-intensity radioactive beams.

Findings

Successfully measured fusion excitation functions with MuSIC@Indiana.

Achieved high-resolution separation of fusion events from other interactions.

Results agree well with existing literature data.

Abstract

The design, construction, and characterization of the Multi-Sampling Ionization Chamber, MuSIC@Indiana, are described. This detector provides efficient and accurate measurement of the fusion cross-section at near-barrier energies. The response of the detector to low-intensity beams of $^{17,18}$O, $^{19}$F, $^{23}$Na, $^{24,26}$Mg, $^{27}$Al, and $^{28}$Si at E$_{lab}$ = 50-60 MeV was examined. MuSIC@Indiana was commissioned by measuring the $^{18}$O+$^{12}$C fusion excitation function for 11 $<$ E$_{cm}$ $<$ 20 MeV using CH$_{4}$ gas. A simple, effective analysis cleanly distinguishes proton capture and two-body scattering events from fusion on carbon. With MuSIC@Indiana, measurement of 15 points on the excitation function for a single incident beam energy is achieved. The resulting excitation function is shown to be in good agreement with literature data