Fabrication of thin 130Te target foils for sub-barrier fusion studies

Abstract

Thin 130Te target foils of thickness 139–260 μg/cm2 have been prepared on 12C backing using resistive evaporation technique for sub-barrier fusion studies in heavy-ion induced nuclear reactions. The deposition thickness of both 12C and 130Te has been measured using profilometer, and the thickness of a few target foils has been measured using 𝛼-transmission method. Target foils fabricated in the present work have been characterized using the Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDXS) for impurity and to estimate the thickness. 130Te is known to be brittle with the low melting point, and it quickly degrades if bombarded with energetic heavy-ion beams. In the present work, 130Te target foils fabricated on carbon backing were bombarded with 70 MeV 32S and 114– 155 MeV 35,37Cl beams to vet the stability of the targets. It has been observed that 130Te target foils fabricated on 12C backing survived the bombardment with energetic 32S, and 35,37Cl beams without any degradation for the entire duration of sub-barrier fusion measurement at different energies.