MITA: A Multilayer Ionization-chamber Telescope Array for low-energy reactions with exotic nuclei

N. R. Ma; L. Yang; C. J. Lin; H. Yamaguchi; D. X. Wang; L. J. Sun; M. Mazzocco; H. M. Jia; S. Hayakawa; D. Kahl; S. M. Cha; G. X. Zhang; F. Yang; Y. Y. Yang; C. Signorini; Y. Sakaguchi; K. Abe; M. La Commara; D. Pierroutsakou; C. Parascandolo; E. Strano; A. Kim; K. Y. Chae; M. S. Kwag; G. L. Zhang; M. Pan; X. X. Xu; P. W. Wen; F. P. Zhong; H. H. Sun; G. Guo

doi:10.1140/epja/i2019-12765-7

2021 Impact factor 3.131

Hadrons and Nuclei

Eur. Phys. J. A (2019) 55: 87
https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/i2019-12765-7

Special Article - New Tools and Techniques

MITA: A Multilayer Ionization-chamber Telescope Array for low-energy reactions with exotic nuclei

N. R. Ma¹, L. Yang¹^,2^*, C. J. Lin¹^,10^,11, H. Yamaguchi², D. X. Wang¹, L. J. Sun¹, M. Mazzocco³^,4, H. M. Jia¹, S. Hayakawa², D. Kahl², S. M. Cha⁵, G. X. Zhang⁶, F. Yang¹, Y. Y. Yang⁷, C. Signorini³^,4, Y. Sakaguchi², K. Abe², M. La Commara⁸, D. Pierroutsakou⁹, C. Parascandolo⁹, E. Strano³^,4, A. Kim⁵, K. Y. Chae⁵, M. S. Kwag⁵, G. L. Zhang⁶, M. Pan⁶, X. X. Xu¹, P. W. Wen¹, F. P. Zhong¹^,10, H. H. Sun¹^,11 and G. Guo¹^,11

¹ Department of Nuclear Physics, China Institute of Atomic Energy, 102413, Beijing, China
² Center for Nuclear Study, University of Tokyo, RIKEN campus, 2-1 Hirosawa, 351-0198, Wako, Saitama, Japan
³ Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Padova, via F. Marzolo 8, I-35131, Padova, Italy
⁴ Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare-Sezione di Padova, via F. Marzolo 8, I-35131, Padova, Italy
⁵ Department of Physics, Sungkyunkwan University, 16419, Suwon, Korea
⁶ School of Physics and Nuclear Energy Engineering, Beihang University, 100191, Beijing, China
⁷ Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 730000, Lanzhou, China
⁸ Department of Pharmacy, University Federico II, via D. Montesano 49, I-80131, Napoli, Italy
⁹ Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare-Sezione di Napoli, Via Cintia, I-80126, Napoli, Italy
¹⁰ Department of Physics, Guangxi Normal University, 541004, Guilin, China
¹¹ National Innovation Center of Radiation Application, 102413, Beijing, China

^* e-mail: yang_lei@ciae.ac.cn

Received: 7 February 2019
Accepted: 3 May 2019
Published online: 7 June 2019

Abstract

We report on the development of a new, portable detector array for charged particles with a low detection threshold to study the reaction mechanisms of exotic nuclear systems at energies around the Coulomb barrier. In order to identify both light and heavy particles simultaneously, the array consists of ten units of - telescopes, where each one is made up of four detection layers: one ionization chamber, one 40 (or 60)μm double-sided silicon strip detector and two quadrant silicon detectors with thicknesses of 300μm and 1000 (or 1500)μm, respectively. The frame of the ionization chamber is innovatively designed with printed circuit boards, thus the mass of each telescopic unit was reduced significantly which eases transport and installation requirements to different radioactive ion beam lines around the globe. The commissioning experiments focused on elucidating several reaction mechanisms encountered in the ¹⁷F + ⁵⁸Ni and ¹⁷F + ²⁰⁸Pb systems, and we demonstrated that the array has a sufficient capability to enable charged particle identification over a large range of Z. Light particles like p, d, as well as heavy ions like ¹⁶O and ¹⁷F can be clearly distinguished. Considering these properties, this newly developed array enables in-depth investigation of the novel reaction mechanisms which are manifested in the collisions of exotic nuclei with differing isotopes.