At CERN, radioactive ion beams with energies of up to 10 MeV/u can be pro- duced by a newly commissioned post-accelerator, HIE-ISOLDE, which expands the possibilities for nuclear reaction studies. To investigate the collision properties of the ion beam with a target, an active gasβtarget detector is under development by the Reactions Group at the Nuclear Physics Division in Lund. The existing detector setup was further investigated in this thesis. Experimental tests of the gain and stability of the detector were performed with the simulation package Garfield++ for a 82/18 Ar/CO 2 gas mixture and a 55 Fe source. The results were compared to results obtained from an earlier project. Simulations of electron drift were performed for different drift distances to characterize the spread of an electron cloud to design a new backgammon shaped readout plane to investigate the electron diffusion. First tests of new readout electronics have been performed and a C++ file has been written to investigate cross talk of the used Kapton cables.Simulations of heavy element synthesis How to improve on the knowledge of heavy element production using a gas box The creation of elements, the basis for life on earth, is a topic of long standing interest and it is particularly interesting for the production of heavy elements above iron. Stars that gain energy by fusion reactions can produce elements up to iron. Heavier stable and radioactive nuclei are supposed to be created in star explosions. To simulate the reactions that occur in such environments, collisions between a gas and radioactive atomic nuclei can be used. For this purpose, radioactive particles can be shot into a gas that acts as target and detector at the same time. The reaction products reveal proper- ties of the interaction, which then helps to improve the understanding of heavy element synthesis. At the ISOLDE facility at CERN, such experiments take place. The active gas-target detector developed in this thesis is planned to be used in these experiments. In this thesis tests have been performed with a specific type of detector, based on Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) foils for this purpose. The detector contains a gas filled volume, to which a drift potential is applied via a drift cathode. When a charged particle enters the gas, it will kick out electrons from the gas atom shell. This ionization process is used to track the particles path and recreate the reaction. Due to the electric field, the electrons produce will drift towards the anode readout plane and ionize further gas atoms in collisions. To see the signal, the electrons are multiplied by the GEM foils. These foils are thin polymer foils coated with copper and perforated with small holes. Depending on where a radioactive particle moves through the gas, a trace of electrons is created and the particle can be tracked. From the length of the track and the amplitude of the produced signals, the energy of the reaction products can be determined. More- over, the detected particles can be identified by their specific energy loss in the gas.With the help of a gas filled GEM detector box, one can therefore investigate super element synthesis and uncover the secrets of stars interior
