The SLEGS beamline of SSRF

The Shanghai Laser Electron Gamma Source(SLEGS, located in BL03SSID) beamline at the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility(SSRF) is a Laser Compton Scattering(LCS) gamma source used for the investigation of nuclear structure, which is in extensive demand in fields such as nuclear astrophysics, nuclear cluster structure, polarization physics, and nuclear energy. The beamline is based on the inverse Compton scattering of 10640 nm photons on 3.5 GeV electrons and a gamma source with variable energy by changing the scattering angle from 20° to 160°. γ rays of 0.25-21.1 MeV can be extracted by the scheme consisting of the interaction chamber, coarse collimator, fine collimator, and attenuator. The maximum photon flux for 180° is approximately 10~7 photons/s at the target at 21.7 MeV, with a 3-mm-diameter beam. The beamline was equipped with four types of spectrometers for experiments in( γ,γ'),( γ,n),( γ,p), and( γ,α). At present, Nuclear Resonance Fluorescence(NRF) spectrometry, Flat-Efficiency neutron Detector(FED) spectrometry, neutron Time-Of-Flight(TOF) spectrometry, and Light-Charged Particle(LCP) spectrometry methods have been developed.

Commissioning of laser electron gamma beamline SLEGS at SSRF

The Shanghai Laser Electron Gamma Source(SLEGS)is a powerful gamma source that provides MeV gamma-ray beams for nuclear science and technology.It was developed as one of the 16 beamline stations in the Phase Ⅱ Project of the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility.The slant-scattering mode is for the first time systematically employed in laser Compton scattering at SLEGS to produce energy-tunable quasi-monoenergetic gamma-ray beams.The SLEGS officially completed its commissioning from July to December 2021.Gamma rays in the energy range of 0.25-21.7 MeV with a flux of 2.1×10^(4)-1.2×10^(7) photons/s and an energy spread of 2-15% were produced during the test.This paper reports the results from commissioning the SLEGS beamline.

Laser test of the prototype of CEE time projection chamber

A prototype thick-GEM-based cooling storage ring external-target experiment(CEE) time projection chamber(TPC) is constructed and tested with the pulsed ultraviolet laser beams. The results indicate that the prototype TPC has a good performance in three-dimensional track resolution. In X direction the position resolution is about 0.2 mm, and in Y direction the position resolution is about 0.5 mm. The results also determine that the energy resolution is about 5.4%, which achieve the requirements of the CEE experiment and can be used to study the nuclear state equation and the quantum chromo dynamics.

Simulation and test of the SLEGS TOF spectrometer at SSRF

The Shanghai laser electron gamma source(SLEGS)is a powerful tool for exploring photonuclear physics,such as giant dipole resonance(GDR)and pygmy dipole resonance,which are the main mechanisms of collective nuclear motion.The goal of the SLEGS neutron time-of-flight(TOF)spectrometer is to measure GDR and specific nuclear structures in the energy region above the neutron threshold.The SLEGS TOF spectrometer was designed to hold 20 sets of EJ301 and LaBr3 detectors.Geant4 was used to simulate the efficiency of each detector and the entire spectrometer,which provides a reference for the selection of detectors and layout of the SLEGS TOF spectrometer.Under the events of 208Pb,implementations of coincidence and time-of-flight technology for complex experiments are available;thus,and neutron decay events can be separated.The performance of SLEGS TOF spectrometer was systematically evaluated using offline experiments,in which the time resolution reached approximately 0.9 ns.

Measurements ofthe 197Au(n, γ) crosssectionupto100keV at the CSNSBack-nfacility

The neutron capture cross section of 197 Au was measured using the time-of-flight(TOF)technique at the Back-n facility of the China Spallation Neutron Source(CSNS)in the 1 eV to 100 keV range.Prompt c-rays originating from neutron-induced capture events were detected by four C_(6)D_(6) liquid scintillator detectors.Pulse height weighting technology(PHWT)was used to analyze the data.The results are in good agreement with ENDF/B-VIII.0,CENDL-3.1,and other evaluated libraries in the resonance region,and in agreement with both n TOF and GELINA experimental data in the 5–100 keV range.Finally,the resonance peaks in the energy range from 1eV to 1 keV were fitted by the SAMMY R-matrix code.

Measurements of the ^(107)Ag neutron capture cross sections with pulse height weighting technique at the CSNS Back-n facility

Silver indium cadmium(Ag–In–Cd) control rod is widely used in pressurized water reactor nuclear power plants,and it is continuously consumed in a high neutron flux environment. The mass ratio of ^(107)Ag in the Ag–In–Cd control rod is 41.44%. To accurately calculate the consumption value of the control rod, a reliable neutron reaction cross section of the ^(107)Ag is required. Meanwhile,^(107)Ag is also an important weak r nucleus. Thus, the cross sections for neutron induced interactions with ^(107)Ag are very important both in nuclear energy and nuclear astrophysics. The(n, γ) cross section of ^(107)Ag has been measured in the energy range of 1–60 eV using a back streaming white neutron beam line at China spallation neutron source. The resonance parameters are extracted by an R-matrix code. All the cross section of ^(107)Ag and resonance parameters are given in this paper as datasets. The datasets are openly available at http://www.doi.org/10.11922/sciencedb.j00113.00010.

Primary yields of protons measured using CR-39 in laser-induceddeuteron–deuteron fusion reactions

Investigating deuteron–deuteron(DD)fusion reactions in a plasma environment similar to the early stages of the Big Bang is an important topic in nuclear astrophysics.In this study,we experimentally investigated such reactions,using eight laser beams with the third harmonic impacting on a deuterated polyethylene target at the ShenGuang-II Upgrade laser facility.This work focused on the application of range-filter(RF)spectrometers,assembled from a 70 lm aluminum filter and two CR-39 nuclear track detectors,to measure the yields of primary DD-protons.Based on the track diameter calibration results of 3 MeV protons used to diagnose the tracks on the RF spectrometers,an approximate primary DD-proton yield of(8.5±1.7)×10^6 was obtained,consistent with the yields from similar laser facilities worldwide.This indicates that the RF spectrometer is an effective way to measure primary DD-protons.However,due to the low yields of D^3He-protons and its small track diameter,CR-39 detectors were unable to distinguish it from the background spots.Using other accurate detectors may help to measure these rare events.

New experimental measurement of^(nat)Se(n,γ)cross section between 1 eV to 1 keV at the CSNS Back-n facility

The^(74)Se is one of 35 p-nuclei,and^(82)Se is a r-process only nucleus,and their(n,γ)cross sections are vital input parameters for nuclear astrophysics reaction network calculations.The neutron capture cross section in the resonance range of isotopes and even natural selenium samples has not been measured.Promptγ-rays originating from neutron-induced capture events were detected by four C_(6)D_(6) liquid scintillator detectors at the Back-n facility of China Spallation Neutron Source(CSNS).The pulse height weighting technique(PHWT)was used to analyze the data in the 1 e V to 100 ke V region.The deduced neutron capture cross section was compared with ENDF/B-VIII.0,JEFF-3.2,and JENDL-4.0,and some differences were found.Resonance parameters were extracted by the R-matrix code SAMMY in the 1 e V-1 ke V region.All the cross sections ofnatSe and resonance parameters are given in the datasets.The datasets are openly available at http://www.doi.org/10.11922/sciencedb.j00113.00019.

Implantation-decay method to study the β-delayed charged particle decay

In this paper,the implantation-decay method is introduced to study the β-delayed charged particle decay.A silicon detector array was used for the implantation of the incident beams and for the detection of the emitted particles.An experimental measurement on the β-delayed particle emission from ^(22)Al was used to demonstrate the method.The half-life value,charged particle spectroscopy,γ ray spectrum,and γ particle coincidence for the decay process were obtained and compared with previous experimental results for ^(22)Al.The results show that the implantation-decay method,using a silicon detector array,is a suitable experimental method to study the β-delayed charged particle decay for proton-rich nuclei.

Energy calibration of a CR-39 nuclear-track detector irradiated by charged particles

Charged particle diagnosis is an important aspect of laser–plasma experiments conducted at super-intense laser facilities. In recent years, Columbia Resin #39 (CR- 39) detectors have been widely employed for detecting charged particles in laser–plasma experiments. This is because the CR-39 polymer does not respond to electromagnetic pulses or X-rays. This study presents a method for calibrating the relationship between particle energy and track diameter in a CR-39 detector (TasTrak■) using 3-8 MeV protons, 6-30 MeV carbon ions, and 1–5 MeV alpha particles. The particle tracks were compared under the manufacturer’s recommended etching conditions of 6.25 mol/l NaOH at 98℃ and under the widely adopted experimental conditions of 6.25 mol/l NaOH at 70℃. The results show that if the NaOH solution concentration is 6.25 mol/l, then the temperature of 70℃is more suitable for etching proton tracks than 98℃ and employing a temperature of 98 ℃ to etch alpha-particle and carbon-ion tracks can significantly reduce the etching time. Moreover, this result implies that C3+ ion or alpha-particle tracks can be distinguished from proton tracks with energy above 3 MeV by controlling the etching time. This calibration method for the CR-39 detector can be applied to the diagnosis of reaction products in laser–plasma experiments.