Characterization of Thin ^natSn Targets for Nuclear Reaction Experiments

At the Texas A&M University’s Cyclotron Institute, thin ¹¹⁸Sn targets (250-500 mg·cm^-2) are used for ¹¹⁸Sn(⁴⁰Ar, 6n)¹⁵²Er and ¹¹⁸Sn(⁴⁰Ar, 5n)¹⁵³Er reactions to calibrate detectors. To develop a procedure to fabricate ¹¹⁸Sn targets, resistive heating of ^natSn was utilized at the Advanced Nuclear Target Laboratory for Experimental Research (ANTLER). The fabricated ^natSn targets’ thickness, surface uniformity, and composition were characterized through α-particle energy loss measurements, energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The targets had thicknesses that fell near the desired range and surfaces that displayed mostly uniform features with some defects. EDS and XPS indicated that the targets’ composition was mostly metallic tin with a thin oxide layer on the surface. Future work will apply this methodology to begin ¹¹⁸Sn target fabrication.