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By combining two unique facilities at the Gesellschaft fuer Schwerionenforschung (GSI), the Fragment Separator (FRS) and the Experimental Storage Ring (ESR), the first direct measurement of a proton capture reaction of stored radioactive isotopes was accomplished. The combination of well-defined ion energy, an ultra-thin internal gas target, and the ability to adjust the beam energy in the storage ring enables precise, energy-differentiated measurements of the (p,gamma) cross sections. The new setup provides a sensitive method for measuring (p,gamma) reactions relevant for nucleosynthesis processes in supernovae, which are among the most violent explosions in the universe and are not yet well understood. The cross sections of the 118Te(p,gamma) and 124Xe(p,gamma) reactions were measured
at energies of astrophysical interest. The heavy ions were stored with energies of 6 MeV/nucleon and 7 MeV/nucleon and interacted with a hydrogen gas-jet target.
The produced proton-capture products were detected with a double-sided silicon strip detector. The radiative recombination process of the fully stripped ions and electrons from the hydrogen target was used as a luminosity monitor.
Additionally, post-processing nucleosynthesis simulations within the NuGrid [1] research platform have been performed. The impact of the new experimental results on the p-process nucleosynthesis around 124Xe and 118Te in a core-collapse supernova was investigated. The successful measurement of the proton capture cross sections of radioactive isotopes rises the motivation to proceed with experiments in lower energy regions.
[1] M. Pignatari and F. Herwig, “The nugrid research platform: A comprehensive simulation approach for nuclear astrophysics,” Nuclear Physics News, vol. 22, no. 4, pp. 18–23, 2012.
Der langsame Neutroneneinfang-Prozess (s-Prozess) ist für die Erzeugung von rund der Hälfte der Elemente zwischen Eisen und Blei verantwortlich. Sein Reaktionspfad enthält entlang des Stabilitätstals einige Verzweigungspunkte an instabilen Isotopen, deren Neutroneneinfangquerschnitte die Produktion schwererer Elemente und deren Isotopen-Verhältnisse beeinflussen. Kennt man ihre Zerfalls- und Neutroneneinfangraten unter den angenommenen stellaren Bedingungen ist es möglich, Rückschlüsse auf die physikalischen Umstände während des s-Prozesses zu ziehen. Einer dieser Verzweigungspunkte ist 63-Ni. Die experimentelle Bestimmung des differentiellen Wirkungsquerschnittes für den Neutroneneinfang an diesem Isotop ist das primäre Ergebnis der vorliegenden Arbeit. Der 63-Ni(n,gamma)- Wirkungsquerschnitt hat Einfluss auf die Häufigkeiten von 64-Ni, die Kupfer- und die Zink-Isotope. Die Sensitivität der Produktion dieser Nuklide in s-Prozess-Szenarien wurde ebenfalls im Rahmen dieser Arbeit anhand von Simulationen des entsprechenden Nukleosynthesenetzwerkes untersucht. Zudem wurde die Datenlage für s-Prozess-Modelle mit einer Flugzeit-Messung des 63-Cu(n,gamma)-Wirkungsquerschnitts erweitert.
Die beiden Experimente zur Querschnittsbestimmung von 63-Ni und 63-Cu fanden am Los Alamos Neutron Science Center in New Mexico, USA statt. Eine aus angereichertem 62-Ni hergestellte 63-Ni-Probe wurde im Rahmen einer Flugzeit-Messung gepulst mit Neutronen bestrahlt. Der Nachweis der prompten Gammastrahlung aufgrund von Neutroneneinfängen erfolgte mit dem 4π-BaF_2-Detektor DANCE. Die kalorimetrische Messung macht den Q-Wert der Reaktion für jedes Einfangereignis zugänglich und erlaubt die Unterscheidung von Ereignissen verschiedener Isotope. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass diese Methode die Bestimmung von Querschnitten selbst mit Proben ermöglicht, die nur zu einem Bruchteil aus dem zu untersuchenden Isotop bestehen. Der 63-Ni(n,gamma)-Wirkungsquerschnitt wurde für den Energiebereich von 40 eV bis 500 keV mit einer maximalen Unsicherheit von 15% bestimmt. Es zeigte sich, dass theoretische Abschätzungen den Querschnitt bislang um etwa einen Faktor 2 unterschätzten. In demselben Energiebereich konnte der 63-Cu(n,gamma)-Wirkungsquerschnitt mit einer maximalen Unsicherheit von 8% vermessen werden.
The stellar nucleosynthesis of elements heavier than iron can primarily be attributed to neutron capture reactions in the s and r process. While the s process is considered to be well understood with regards to the stellar sites, phases and conditions where it occurs, nucleosynthesis networks still need accurate neutron capture cross sections
with low uncertainties as input parameters. Their quantitative outputs for the isotopic abundances produced in the s process, coupled with the observable solar abundances, can be used to indirectly infer the expected r process abundances. The two stable gallium isotopes, 69Ga and 71Ga, have been shown in sensitivity studies to have considerable impact on the weak s process in massive stars. The available experimental data, mostly derived from neutron activation measurements for quasi-stellar neutron spectra at kBT = 25 keV, show disagreements up to a factor of three.
Determining the differential neutron capture cross section can provide input data for the whole range of astrophysically relevant energies. To that end, a neutron time of flight experimental campaign at the n_TOF facility at CERN was performed for three months, using isotopically enriched samples of both isotopes. The data taken at the EAR1 experimental area covered a wide neutron energy range from thermal to several hundred keV. The respective differential and spectrum averaged neutron capture cross sections for 69Ga and 71Ga were determined in this thesis. They show good agreement with the evaluated cross sections for 71Ga, but reproduce the deviations from the evaluated data that other, more recent activation measurements showed for 69Ga.
In order to understand the origin of the elements in the universe, one must understand the nuclear reactions by which atomic nuclei are transformed. There are many different astrophysical environments that fulfill the conditions of different nucleosynthesis processes. Even though great progress has been made in recent decades in understanding the origin of the elements in the universe, some questions remain unanswered. In order to understand the processes, it is necessary to measure cross sections of the involved reactions and constrain theoretical model predictions. A variety of methods have been developed to measure nuclear reaction cross sections relevant for nuclear astrophysics. In this thesis, two different experiments and their results, both using the well-established activation method, are presented.
A measurement of the proton capture cross section on the p-nuclide 96Ru was performed at the Institute of Structure and Nuclear Astrophysics ISNAP - Notre Dame, USA. The main goal of this experiment was to compare the results with those obtained by Mei et al. in a pioneering experiment using the method of inverse kinematics at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH - Darmstadt, Germany. Therefore, the activations were taken out at the same center of mass energies of 9 MeV, 10 MeV and 11 MeV. Another activation was taken out at an energy of 3.2 MeV to compare the result to a measurement of Bork et al. who also used the activation method. While the results at 3.2 MeV agree quite well with those of Bork et al., the results at higher energies show significantly smaller cross sections than those measured by Mei et al.. Experimental details, the data analysis and sources of uncertainties are discussed.
The second part of this thesis describes a neutron capture cross section experiment. At the Institut für Kernphysik - Goethe Universtität Frankfurt an experimental setup allows to produce quasi maxwell-distributed neutron fields to measure maxwell-averaged cross sections (MACS) relevant for s-process nucleosynthesis. The setup was upgraded by a fast electric linear guide to transport samples from the activation to the detection site. The cyclic activation of the sample allows to increase the signal-to-noise ratio and to measure neutron captures that lead to nuclei with
half-lives on the order of seconds. In a first campaign, MACS of the reactions 51V(n,γ), 107,109Ag(n,γ) and 103Rh(n,γ) were measured. The new components of the setup aswell as the data analysis framework are described and the results of the measurements are discussed.