# The Texas-Edinburgh-Catania Silicon Array (TECSA): A detector for nuclear astrophysics and nuclear structure studies with rare isotope beams

ArticleinNuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A Accelerators Spectrometers Detectors and Associated Equipment 634:71-76 · April 2011with21 Reads
DOI: 10.1016/j.nima.2011.01.035
Abstract
We present the details of the construction and commissioning of the Texas-Edinburgh-Catania Silicon Array (TECSA). TECSA is composed of up to 16 Micron Semiconductor Ltd. type-YY1 silicon strip detectors and associated electronics, which is designed for use in studies of nuclear astrophysics and nuclear structure with rare isotope beams. TECSA was assembled at the Texas A&M University Cyclotron Institute and will be housed there for the next few years. The array was commissioned in a recent experiment where the d((14)C,p)(15)C reaction at 11.7 MeV/u was measured in inverse kinematics. The results of the measurement and a discussion of the future use of this array are presented. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
• ##### Determination of the asymptotic normalization coefficients for C14 + n ↔C15, the C14(n,γ)C15 reaction rate, and evaluation of a new method to determine spectroscopic factors
[Show abstract] [Hide abstract] ABSTRACT: The C14 + n ↔C15 system has been used as a test case in the evaluation of a new method to determine spectroscopic factors that uses the asymptotic normalization coefficient (ANC). The method proved to be unsuccessful for this case. As part of this experimental program, the ANCs for the 15C ground state and first excited state were determined using a heavy-ion neutron transfer reaction as well as the inverse kinematics (d,p) reaction, measured at the Texas A&M; Cyclotron Institute. The values C2s1/22=1.88±0.18 fm-1 for the ground state and C1d5/22=4.25±0.38×10-3 fm-1 for the first excited state (Eexc=740 keV) were obtained. The ANCs were used to evaluate the astrophysical direct neutron capture rate on C14, which was then compared with the most recent direct measurement and found to be in good agreement. A study of the C15 SF via its mirror nucleus F15 and a new insight into deuteron stripping theory are also presented.
Full-text · Article · Mar 2014
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• ##### Trojan Horse measurement of the 18F(p, $\alpha$ )15O astrophysical S(E)-factor
[Show abstract] [Hide abstract] ABSTRACT: Crucial information on novae nucleosynthesis is linked to the abundance of 18F , which, due to great improvements in gamma-ray astronomy, can be detected in explosive environments. Therefore, the reaction network producing and destroying this radioactive isotope has been extensively studied in the last years. Among those reactions, the 18F(p,$$\alpha$$)15O cross section has been measured by means of several dedicated experiments, both using direct and indirect methods. The presence of resonances in the energy region of astrophysical interest has been reported by many authors. In the present work a report on a recent experiment performed via the Trojan Horse Method (THM) is presented and the results are given and compared with the ones known in the literature, both direct and indirect. Data arising from THM measurements are then averaged and the reaction rate calculated in the novae energy range.
Full-text · Article · Feb 2016
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