Speakers
Description
Active Target Time Projection Chamber (AT-TPC) can be a powerful detection system in low-energy nuclear physics experiments, offering its active medium as the target. along with three-dimensional tracking of candidate-nuclei. Thus, the working principle of an AT-TPC may be advantageous in studying nuclear reaction kinematics with better precision [1]. One important application is the investigation of α-cluster decay of the Hoyle state of $^{12}$C, which plays a crucial role in understanding the abundance of $^{12}$C
and formation of heavy elements during astrophysical nucleosynthesis [2]. We developed and tested the Saha Active Target TPC (SAT-TPC) prototype equipped with a bulk Micromegas (MICRO-MEsh GAseous Structure) [3] with 128 μm amplification gap as its endplate readout. The setup was characterized using 5.9 KeV X-rays from 55Fe and 5.48 MeV α-particles from 241Am operating it with Ar:CO₂ (90:10) and Ar:C₄H₁₀ (95:5) gas mixtures. Key performance parameters, such as gain, energy resolution, and tracking were studied from the measured data acquired with both continuous and segmented anode readout. Preliminary results show stable Micromegas operation, clear α-track imaging, and good energy resolution in both the gas mixtures, demonstrating the suitability of SAT-TPCs for future low-energy nuclear reaction studies related to the study of Hoyle state decay mechanism.
References
[1] D. Suzuki et al., Nuclear Instrumentation. Methods A 691 (2012) 39–54.
[2] M. Tsumura et al., Physics Letters B 817 (2021) 136283
[3] I. Giomataris et al., Nuclear Instrumentation Methods A 560 (2006) 405–408.
[4] Pralay Kumar Das et al., Journal of Instrumentation, vol. 20,(2025), P001008.
| Position | Senior Research Fellow |
|---|---|
| Affiliation | Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics |
| Country | India |