https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/i2008-10706-3
Regular Article - Experimental Physics
Ultra-sensitive in-beam
-ray spectroscopy for nuclear astrophysics at LUNA
1
INFN, Sezione di Padova, Padova, Italy
2
Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Padova, Padova, Italy
3
Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Genova and INFN Sezione di Genova, Genova, Italy
4
Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresden, Germany
5
Istituto di Fisica Generale Applicata, Università di Milano and INFN Sezione di Milano, Milano, Italy
6
ATOMKI, Debrecen, Hungary
7
INFN, Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Assergi, Italy
8
Dipartimento di Fisica Sperimentale, Università di Torino and INFN Sezione di Torino, Torino, Italy
9
Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, Università di Napoli “Federico II”, Napoli, Italy
10
Institut für Experimentalphysik III, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Germany
11
Osservatorio Astronomico di Collurania, Teramo, Italy
12
Seconda Università di Napoli, Caserta, Italy
13
INFN, Sezione di Napoli, Napoli, Italy
* e-mail: d.bemmerer@fzd.de
Received:
23
July
2008
Revised:
11
November
2008
Accepted:
15
December
2008
Published online:
21
January
2009
Ultra-sensitive in-beam -ray spectroscopy studies for nuclear astrophysics are performed at the LUNA (Laboratory for Underground Nuclear Astrophysics) 400 kV accelerator, deep underground in Italy’s Gran Sasso laboratory. By virtue of a specially constructed passive shield, the laboratory
-ray background for
< 3 MeV at LUNA has been reduced to levels comparable to those experienced in dedicated offline underground
-counting setups. The
-ray background induced by an incident
-beam has been studied. The data are used to evaluate the feasibility of sensitive in-beam experiments at LUNA and, by extension, at similar proposed facilities.
PACS: 25.40.Lw Radiative capture – / 25.55.-e 3H -, 3He -, and 4He -induced reactions – / 29.20.Ba Electrostatic accelerators – / 29.30.Kv X- and -ray spectroscopy –
© SIF, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2009