Fabrication and characterization of self-supporting and backed 107Ag targets for lifetime measurements using RDM and DSAM

Self-supporting and Au backed Ag-107 targets have been fabricated from material in the form of powder at the Inter-University Accelerator Centre (IUAC), New Delhi. The method described in this report (using the combination of cold rolling and e-beam melting technique) is efficient in such a way that targets are fabricated without any significant loss of material and are free from major contamination. Consequently, this method of fabricating targets is useful for materials which are very expensive. Various techniques for thickness measurements and characterizations have been carried out, viz., alpha-transmission method, Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS), X-ray Diffractometry (XRD), Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (EDXRF), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The thickness of self-supporting Ag-107 and backed Ag-107 is approximate to 1.43 +/- 0.08 and approximate to 1.11 +/- 0.07 mg/cm(2), respectively. One of the fabricated targets has been used successfully in nuclear physics experiment.

Automated summary

Self-supporting and Au backed Ag-107 targets have been fabricated using a combination of cold rolling and e-beam melting technique. The method is efficient, resulting in targets without significant material loss or major contamination. Various techniques have been used for thickness measurements and characterizations, and one of the fabricated targets has been successfully used in a nuclear physics experiment.