An actively vetoed Clover gamma-detector for nuclear astrophysics at LUNA

Abstract

An escape-suppressed, composite high-purity germanium detector of the Clover type has been installed at the Laboratory for Underground Nuclear Astrophysics (LUNA) facility, deep underground in the Gran Sasso Laboratory, Italy. The laboratory gamma-ray background of the Clover detector has been studied underground at LUNA and, for comparison, also in an overground laboratory. Spectra have been recorded both for the single segments and for the virtual detector formed by online addition of all four segments. The effect of the escape-suppression shield has been studied as well. Despite their generally higher intrinsic background, escape-suppressed detectors are found to be well suited for underground nuclear astrophysics studies. As an example for the advantage of using a composite detector deep underground, the weak ground state branching of the Ep = 223 keV resonance in the 24Mg(p,gamma)25Al reaction is determined with improved precision.

8 pages, 6 figures, 3 tables; as accepted by Eur. Phys. J. A

References in corpus (7)

• Activation measurement of the 3He(alpha,gamma)7Be cross section at low energy
• Astrophysical S-factor of the 3He(alpha,gamma)7Be reaction measured at low energy via prompt and delayed gamma detection
• First measurement of the 14N(p,gamma)15O cross section down to 70 keV
• Precision study of ground state capture in the 14N(p,gamma)15O reaction
• Ultra-sensitive in-beam gamma-ray spectroscopy for nuclear astrophysics at LUNA
• Feasibility of low energy radiative capture experiments at the LUNA underground accelerator facility
• Direct measurement of the 15N(p,gamma)16O total cross section at novae energies

Cited by in corpus (9)

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• Neutron-induced background by an alpha-beam incident on a deuterium gas target and its implications for the study of the 2H(alpha,gamma)6Li reaction at LUNA
• New proton-capture rates on carbon isotopes and their impact on the astrophysical ${}^{12}\mathrm{C}/{}^{13}\mathrm{C}$ ratio
• Cosmic-ray induced background intercomparison with actively shielded HPGe detectors at underground locations
• The Felsenkeller shallow-underground laboratory for nuclear astrophysics
• Progress of the Felsenkeller shallow-underground accelerator for nuclear astrophysics
• Study of the ${}^{20}$Ne($p,\gamma$)${}^{21}$Na reaction at LUNA