Eur. Phys. J. A (2014) 50: 140
https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/i2014-14140-8

Regular Article - Experimental Physics

The Feasibility of direct measurement of the ⁴⁴Ti(α, p)⁴⁷V and ⁴⁰Ca(α, p)⁴³Sc reactions in forward kinematics at astrophysically relevant temperatures

¹ Institute of Radiation Physics, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, D-01328, Dresden, Germany
² Physics Department, The Hashemite University, P.O. Box 150459, 13115, Zarqa, Jordan
³ European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy, Rue Robert Stumper 10, L-2557, Luxembourg, Luxembourg
⁴ Laboratory of Radiochemistry and Environmental Chemistry, Paul Scherrer Institute, CH-5232, Villigen PSI, Switzerland
⁵ Institute for Nuclear Research of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA ATOMKI), H-4026, Debrecen, Hungary
⁶ Nuclear Energy and Safety, Hot Laboratory Division, Paul Scherrer Institute, CH-5232, Villigen PSI, Switzerland
⁷ Institute of Nuclear and Particle Physics, Technische Universität Dresden, D-01062, Dresden, Germany

^* e-mail: abdullatq@gmail.com

Received: 2 June 2014
Revised: 9 August 2014
Accepted: 27 August 2014
Published online: 12 September 2014

Abstract

Understanding the synthesis of radioactive ⁴⁴Ti in the α-rich freeze-out following core-collapse supernovae may help to better interpret such explosive events. The γ-ray lines from the decay of ⁴⁴Ti have been observed by space-based γ-ray telescopes from two supernova remnants. It is believed that the ⁴⁴Ti(α, p)⁴⁷V reaction dominates the destruction of ⁴⁴Ti, while the ⁴⁰Ca(α, p)⁴³Sc reaction removes fuel from the main ⁴⁴Ti production reaction ⁴⁰Ca(α, γ)⁴⁴Ti. Here we report on a possible technique to determine both reaction rates at astrophysically relevant energies in forward kinematics. The first reaction will be performed using a 1-10 MBq ⁴⁴Ti target. Two important concerns are considered to make this study possible: The amount of stable Ti in the radioactive target, which will be prepared via spallation reactions at Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), and the degree of radioactive contaminations in the experimental setup due to sputtered ⁴⁴Ti atoms after intensive irradiations. Several online and offline measurements in parallel with Monte Carlo simulations were performed to investigate these issues.