Development of a tracking system of exotic nuclear beams for FAIR

New accelerators like SPIRAL2 (GANIL, France) or FAIR (GSI, Germany) will be soon constructed, and they will be able to produce radioactive ion beams (RIB) with high intensities of current (≥106pps). These beams, at low energy, lower than 20 MeV/n, usually have high emittance, which imposes the use of tracking detectors before the target in order to reconstruct the trajectory of the ions. The group of Nuclear Physics at CNA (Centro Nacional de Aceleradores), is in charge of developing a tracking system for the low energy branch of FAIR (the HISPEC/DESPEC project). A collaboration with CEA-SACLAY was established, with the aim of developing, building and testing low pressure Secondary electron Detectors (SeD). Within this proposal we have projected and constructed a new Nuclear Physics Line in the CNA in order to be able to receive any kind of detector tests and the associated nuclear instruments

Performance of the reconstruction algorithms of the FIRST experiment pixel sensors vertex detector

Hadrontherapy treatments use charged particles (e.g. protons and carbon ions) to treat tumors. During a therapeutic treatment with carbon ions, the beam undergoes nuclear fragmentation processes giving rise to significant yields of secondary charged particles. An accurate prediction of these production rates is necessary to estimate precisely the dose deposited into the tumours and the surrounding healthy tissues. Nowadays, a limited set of double differential carbon fragmentation cross-section is available. Experimental data are necessary to benchmark Monte Carlo simulations for their use in hadrontherapy. The purpose of the FIRST experiment is to study nuclear fragmentation processes of ions with kinetic energy in the range from 100 to 1000 MeV/u. Tracks are reconstructed using information from a pixel silicon detector based on the CMOS technology. The performances achieved using this device for hadrontherapy purpose are discussed. For each reconstruction step (clustering, tracking and vertexing), different methods are implemented. The algorithm performances and the accuracy on reconstructed observables are evaluated on the basis of simulated and experimental data

Performance of upstream interaction region detectors for the FIRST experiment at GSI

The FIRST (Fragmentation of Ions Relevant for Space and Therapy) experiment at GSI has been designed to study carbon fragmentation, measuring 12C double differential cross sections (∂2σ/ ∂θ∂E) for different beam energies between 100 and 1000 MeV/u. The experimental setup integrates newly designed detectors in the, so called, Interaction Region around the graphite target. The Interaction Region upstream detectors are a 250 μm thick scintillator and a drift chamber optimized for a precise measurement of the ions interaction time and position on the target. In this article we review the design of the upstream detectors along with the preliminary results of the data taking performed on August 2011 with 400 MeV/u fully stripped carbon ion beam at GSI. Detectors performances will be reviewed and compared to those obtained during preliminary tests, performed with 500 MeV electrons (at the BTF facility in the INFN Frascati Laboratories) and 80 MeV/u protons and carbon ions (at the INFN LNS Laboratories in Catania)

FIRST experiment: Fragmentation of Ions Relevant for Space and Therapy

Nuclear fragmentation processes are relevant in different fields of basic research and applied physics and are of particular interest for tumor therapy and for space radiation protection applications. The FIRST (Fragmentation of Ions Relevant for Space and Therapy) experiment at SIS accelerator of GSI laboratory in Darmstadt, has been designed for the measurement of different ions fragmentation cross sections at different energies between 100 and 1000 MeV/nucleon. The experiment is performed by an international collaboration made of institutions from Germany, France, Italy and Spain. The experimental apparatus is partly based on an already existing setup made of the ALADIN magnet, the MUSIC IV TPC, the LAND2 neutron detector and the TOFWALL scintillator TOF system, integrated with newly designed detectors in the interaction Region (IR) around the carbon removable target: a scintillator Start Counter, a Beam Monitor drift chamber, a silicon Vertex Detector and a Proton Tagger for detection of light fragments emitted at large angles (KENTROS). The scientific program of the FIRST experiment started on summer 2011 with the study of the 400 MeV/nucleon 12C beam fragmentation on thin (8mm) carbon targe

Measurement of fragmentation cross sections of 12C ions on a thin gold target with the FIRST apparatus

A detailed knowledge of the light ions interaction processes with matter is of great interest in basic and applied physics. As an example, particle therapy and space radioprotection require highly accurate fragmentation cross-section measurements to develop shielding materials and estimate acute and late health risks for manned missions in space and for treatment planning in particle therapy. The Fragmentation of Ions Relevant for Space and Therapy experiment at the Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion research (GSI) was designed and built by an international collaboration from France, Germany, Italy, and Spain for studying the collisions of a 12C ion beam with thin targets. The collaboration’s main purpose is to provide the double-differential cross-section measurement of carbon-ion fragmentation at energies that are relevant for both tumor therapy and space radiation protection applications. Fragmentation cross sections of light ions impinging on a wide range of thin targets are also essential to validate the nuclear models implemented inMC simulations that, in such an energy range, fail to reproduce the data with the required accuracy. This paper presents the single differential carbon-ion fragmentation cross sections on a thin gold target, measured as a function of the fragment angle and kinetic energy in the forward angular region (θ 6◦), aiming to provide useful data for the benchmarking of the simulation softwares used in light ions fragmentation applications. The 12C ions used in the measurement were accelerated at the energy of 400 MeV/nucleon by the SIS (heavy ion synchrotron) GSI facility.Comunidad Europea FP7 PITNGA-2008-215840-PARTNERJunta de Andalucía y Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación P07-FQM-02894 FIS2008-04189 FPA2008- 04972-C0

Precise measurement of near-barrier 8He+208Pb elastic scattering : comparison with 6He

Dramatic differences in the elastic scattering of the neutron rich nuclei 6He and 8He are found when new high quality data for the 8He+208Pb system are compared with previously published 6He+208Pb data at the same laboratory frame incident energy. The new 8He data are of the same level of detail as for stable beams. When comparing them with those previously obtained for 6He+208Pb at the same energy, it is possible to determine from the data alone that 6He has a much longer range absorption than 8He. However, both nuclei show significant absorption beyond their strong absorption radii. While it has been known for a long time that elastic scattering at energies around the barrier only determines the optical potential over a small distance in radial space, typically ±0.5 fm or so, both the 6He and the 8He imaginary potentials obtained from various optical model fits to these data are the same over a much wider range of ±1.5 fm.The authors would like to thank the staff of the GANIL accelerator facility for providing the high quality 8He beam. This work was supported in part by Grant No. FPA2010-22131-C02-01 (FINURA) and Grant No. FPA2013-47327-C2-1-R from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, UNAM-PAPIIT IA101616 (Mexico), Grant No. N202 033637 from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Poland, and Contract No. EUI2009-04163 (EUROGENESIS) from the European Science Foundation

First experiment: Fragmentation of ions relevant for space and therapy

Nuclear fragmentation processes are relevant in different fields of basic research and applied physics and are of particular interest for tumor therapy and for space radiation protection applications. The FIRST (Fragmentation of Ions Relevant for Space and Therapy) experiment at SIS accelerator of GSI laboratory in Darmstadt, has been designed for the measurement of different ions fragmentation cross sections at different energies between 100 and 1000 MeV/nucleon. The experiment is performed by an international collaboration made of institutions from Germany, France, Italy and Spain. The experimental apparatus is partly based on an already existing setup made of the ALADIN magnet, the MUSIC IV TPC, the LAND2 neutron detector and the TOFWALL scintillator TOF system, integrated with newly designed detectors in the interaction Region (IR) around the carbon removable target: a scintillator Start Counter, a Beam Monitor drift chamber, a silicon Vertex Detector and a Proton Tagger for detection of light fragments emitted at large angles (KENTROS). The scientific program of the FIRST experiment started on summer 2011 with the study of the 400 MeV/nucleon 12C beam fragmentation on thin (8mm) carbon target

Radia2: A New Tool for Radiotherapy Verification

Radiotherapy is nowadays a proven technique in cancer treatments. Within the evolution of radiotherapy treatments towards more complex techniques, the need of new dosimetric methods for treatment verifications has appeared. In order to reach an improved dosimetric method, a collaboration was started to transfer knowledge from nuclear reaction instrumentation to medical applications, involving several departments from the University of Seville, Centro Nacional de Aceleradores (CNA), the Hospital Universitario Virgen Macarena and the company Inabensa. The first prototype, patent pending [2], gave very promising results. Currently, a critical review is being carried out to create an improved system

Interaction of 8He with 208Pb at near-barrier energies: 4He and 6He production

Angular distributions for the inclusive 4He and 6He production cross sections in the 8He+208Pb system at incident energies of 16 and 22 MeV measured at the SPIRAL facility of the GANIL laboratory are presented. Using a combination of kinematical arguments and distorted wave Born approximation (DWBA) calculations, neutron transfer reactions were inferred to be the dominant contributors to both inclusive cross sections. Model-dependent values for the ratios of two- to one-neutron stripping, s2n/s1n, were derived and compared with previous results for 8He and 6He projectiles incident on other heavy targets. Three- and four-neutron stripping were inferred to be the main processes leading to 4He production, although the exact mechanism remains to be elucidated.The authors would like to thank the staff of the GANIL accelerator facility for providing the high-quality 8He beam. This work was supported in part by Grants No. FPA-2010-22131-CO2-01 (FINURA) and No. FPA2013-47327-C2-1-R from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, UNAM-PAPIIT IA103218 (Mexico); Grant No. N202 033637 from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Poland; the National Science Centre of Poland under Contracts No. 2013/08/M/ST2/00257 (LEA-COPIGAL) and No. 2014/14/M/ST2/00738 (COPIN-INFN Collaboration); and Grant No. EUI2009-04163432 (EUROGENESIS) from the European Science Foundation

Output factor determination for dose measurements in axial and perpendicular planes using a silicon strip detector

In this work we present the output factor measurements of a clinical linear accelerator using a silicon strip detector coupled to a new system for complex radiation therapy treatment verification. The objective of these measurements is to validate the system we built for treatment verification. The measurements were performed at the Virgin Macarena University Hospital in Seville. Irradiations were carried out with a Siemens ONCOR (TM) linac used to deliver radiotherapy treatment for cancer patients. The linac was operating in 6 MV photon mode; the different sizes of the fields were defined with the collimation system provided within the accelerator head. The output factor was measured with the silicon strip detector in two different layouts using two phantoms. In the first, the active area of the detector was placed perpendicular to the beam axis. In the second, the innovation consisted of a cylindrical phantom where the detector was placed in an axial plane with respect to the beam. The measured data were compared with data given by a commercial treatment planning system. Results were shown to be in a very good agreement between the compared set of data.EU Initial Training Marie Curie Network PITN-GA-2008-215080Spanish Research Projects FPA2009-08848 FPA2008-04972-C03-02government of Andalusia Research PO7-FQM02894Consolider-Ingenio CSD2007-00042Instalaciones Inabensa S.A. 68/83 0214/012