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Prokop, Christopher J.

Publications and source records attributed to Prokop, Christopher J..

8 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Low Energy Neutron-induced Charged-particle (Z) (LENZ) instrument development with a focus on pulse shape discrimination for low-energy charged particles

To study neutron-induced charged-particle reactions with high precision, the Low Energy Neutron-induced Charged-particle (Z) instrument (LENZ) was developed at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center. For the interest of measuring (n,p) and (n, α) reactions simultaneously, Pulse Shape Discrimination methods were investigated to identify different charged particles in the energy range of 3 - 20 MeV and improve signal-to-background ratios using Double-sided Silicon Strip Detectors and waveform digitizers. The risetime and pulse shape properties of detected charged particles were characterized for various silicon detector’s thickness with different orientations. During the post-processing of waveforms, we implemented different digital filters for effective particle identifications and improved energy- and timing- resolutions. We validated the optimized digital filters and pulse shape analyses, via measurements with 228 Th and 229 Th calibration sources, proton-induced reactions on a 7 LiF target, and neutron-induced reactions on CH 2 , Ta 2 O 5 , 58 Ni, and 6 LiF/ 59 Ni targets at the time-of-flight facility, LANSCE. In conclusion, the summary of effective thresholds and Figure of Merits on separating different charged particles is reported.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2022

Absolute mass calibration of fission product distributions measured with the E-$v$ method

The mass calibration of fission product distributions measured with the energy–velocity (E-v) method constitutes a technical challenge. The energy loss of the fission fragments in the various dead layers of the spectrometer and other sources of pulse-height defects of the energy detectors are a significant source of systematic uncertainty in the mass calculations used to determine the measured fission product yields. Here, in this study, the absolute calibration of the fission mass distributions is accomplished by measuring prompt γ-rays in coincidence with the fission fragments. This allows for the direct calibration of the mass spectra and eliminates any dependence on potentially complicated energy corrections. The first test measurement was performed at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center employing the SPectrometer for Ion DEtermination in fission Research (SPIDER). SPIDER is a 2E-2v spectrometer designed for measuring independent fission product yields from neutron-induced fission. In this test, the single-arm SPIDER (E-v) system and an array of 252 Cf sources were used. The single-arm system consisted of two time pick-off detectors for measuring the time-of-flight of the fission fragments and a double-sided silicon strip detector (DSSD) for measuring the kinetic energy. Characteristic γ-rays from fission fragments were detected using three high-purity germanium (HPGe) detectors. For the mass calibration, γ–mass coincidence events from twelve product isotopes were used. The measured FPYs from 252 Cf spontaneous fission were found to be in excellent agreement with the evaluated data after applying the absolute mass calibration. From the γ–mass coincidence events, the mass resolution of the system was also extracted. An average mass resolution of ~1.4 AMU (FWHM) for the light fragments and ~2.4 AMU (FWHM) for the heavy fragments were found. This was the first in-situ calibration and characterization of the SPIDER spectrometer, which paves the way for high-quality FPY measurements with this instrument.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2022

Experimental study of the 34 m Cl beam production at intermediate energies

Here the isomeric content of a 34 Cl beam produced in the intermediate-energy projectile fragmentation of a 150 MeV/u 36 Ar beam on a 3 mm-thick Be target was studied. β-delayed γ-ray spectroscopy was used to measure the population of 34 Cl fragments in the ground vs. isomeric states at zero degrees relative to the incoming primary beam for four different momentum settings of the fragment separator near the predicted central velocity of these fragments, as well as, at two non-zero-degree settings for one momentum setting. Of the settings explored, which excluded rigidities within 0.5% of the value predicted to maximize total 34 Cl yield due to unreacted primary beam, the maximum rate for the production of Cl was found at a rigidity setting 0.75% below the predicted peak 34 Cl yield. The maximum population of the isomeric state relative to the ground state was observed at a rigidity 1.25% below the predicted maximum 34 Cl yield. Studies such as this are important in generating the understanding needed for producing isomer-enriched rare-isotope beams.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2022

Forward silicon vertex/tracking detector design and R$\&$D for the future Electron-Ion Collider

The proposed high-luminosity high-energy Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) will provide a clean environment to precisely study several fundamental questions in the fields of high-energy and nuclear physics . A low material budget and high granularity silicon vertex/tracking detector is critical to carry out a series of hadron and jet measurements at the future EIC especially for the heavy flavor product reconstruction or tagging. The conceptual design of a proposed forward silicon tracking detector with the pseudorapidity coverage from 1.2 to 3.5 has been developed in integration with different magnet options and the other EIC detector sub-systems. The tracking performance of this detector enables precise heavy flavor hadron and jet measurements in the hadron beam going direction. The detector R&D for the proposed silicon technology candidates: Low Gain Avalanche Diode (LGAD) and radiation hard depleted Monolithic Active Pixel Sensor (MALTA), which can provide good spatial and timing resolutions, is underway. Bench test results of the LGAD and MALTA prototype sensors will be discussed.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Total absorption spectroscopy measurement on neutron-rich 74,75 Cu isotopes

This paper reports on the first β-decay study of 74,75 Cu isotopes using the technique of total absorption spectroscopy (TAS). The experiment was performed at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University using the Summing NaI(Tl) (SuN) detector. The Cu isotopes are good candidates to probe the single-particle structure in the region because they have one proton outside the Z = 28 shell. Comparing the β-decay intensity distributions in the daughter Zn isotopes to the theoretical predictions provides a stringent test of the calculations. The nuclei in this region are also identified as playing an important role in the astrophysical r-process. Furthermore, the measured β-decay intensity distributions provide essential nuclear physics inputs required to better understand heavy element nucleosynthesis.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Measurement of material isotopics and atom number ratio with α-particle spectroscopy for a NIFFTE fission Time Projection Chamber actinide target

In this work, we present the results of a measurement of isotopic concentrations and atomic number ratio of a double-sided actinide target using α-spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. The double-sided actinide target, with predominantly 239 Pu on one side and 235 U on the other, was used in the fission Time Projection Chamber (fissionTPC) for a measurement of the neutron-induced fission cross-section ratio between the two isotopes. The measured atomic number ratio is needed to extract an absolute measurement fission cross-section ratio. The 239 Pu/ 235 U atom number ratio was measured with a combination of mass spectrometry and α-spectroscopy with a planar silicon detector achieving uncertainties of less than 1%. Different strategies for estimating isotopic concentration from the α-spectrum are presented to demonstrate the potential of these methods for non-destructive target assay. We found that a combination of fitting spectra with constraints from mass spectrometry, and summing counts in a region of the spectrum provided the most consistent results with the lowest uncertainty.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗