A target system for the production of 15O beams for ISAC

Intense radioactive beams of O-15 are required in order to study the high temperatures of the CNO cycle via reactions on radioactive isotopes such as O-15(alpha,gamma)Ne-19, which is a key breakout reaction for the rp-process in stars. We have proposed a target that will operate at 500 MeV and 100 muA proton beam by making use of the O-16(p,pn)O-15 reaction. A water target 20 cm in length will generate approximately 18.5 TBq (500 Ci) of O-15 at equilibrium which is equivalent to 3 x 10(15) atoms of O-15, of which 5-10% would be in the form of O-2. One major advantage is that the target can operate at ambient temperatures. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.