Eur. Phys. J. A (2005) 24: 313-319
https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/i2004-10135-4

Original Article

Feasibility of low-energy radiative-capture experiments at the LUNA underground accelerator facility

¹ INFN, Sezione di Padova, via Marzolo 8, 35131, Padova, Italy
² Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Genova, and INFN, Genova, Italy
³ Istituto di Fisica, Università di Milano, and INFN, Milano, Italy
⁴ Centro de Fisica Nuclear da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
⁵ Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, INFN, Assergi (AQ), Italy
⁶ ATOMKI, Debrecen, Hungary
⁷ Dipartimento di Fisica Sperimentale, Università di Torino, and INFN, Torino, Italy
⁸ Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, Università di Napoli “Federico II”, and INFN, Sezione di Napoli, Napoli, Italy
⁹ Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro, INFN, Legnaro (PD), Italy
¹⁰ Seconda Università di Napoli, Caserta, and INFN, Sezione di Napoli, Napoli, Italy
¹¹ Institut für Experimentalphysik III, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Germany
¹² Osservatorio Astronomico di Collurania, Teramo, and INFN, Sezione di Napoli, Napoli, Italy
¹³ Institut für Atomare Physik und Fachdidaktik, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

^* e-mail: bemmerer@pd.infn.it

Received: 28 December 2004
Accepted: 3 February 2005
Published online: 4 March 2005

Abstract

The LUNA (Laboratory Underground for Nuclear Astrophysics) facility has been designed to study nuclear reactions of astrophysical interest. It is located deep underground in the Gran Sasso National Laboratory, Italy. Two electrostatic accelerators, with 50 and 400 kV maximum voltage, in combination with solid and gas target setups allowed to measure the total cross-sections of the radiative-capture reactions ^2H²H(p, γ)^3He³Heand ^14N¹⁴N(p, γ)^15O¹⁵Owithin their relevant Gamow peaks. We report on the gamma background in the Gran Sasso laboratory measured by germanium and bismuth germanate detectors, with and without an incident proton beam. A method to localize the sources of beam-induced background using the Doppler shift of emitted gamma rays is presented. The feasibility of radiative-capture studies at energies of astrophysical interest is discussed for several experimental scenarios.