Q-Value Gating Techniques for Gamma-ray Background Reduction

For certain classes of experiments, the limiting background comes from beam induced reactions on the nucleus of interest rather than external sources. Techniques using a combination of high-efficiency and high-resolution detectors were developed for separating the $^{19}$F(p,$\gamma$) and $^{19}$F(p,$\alpha\gamma$) reactions--both of which are important for quiescent and explosive CNO burning. The measurement will be compared to previous attempts with particular emphasis on the advantages Q-value gating offers in an inherently high-background scenario.