Coated Li Film Targets for TNSA Light-Ion Reaction Experiments with the MTW Laser
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Date
2023-11-03
Authors
Lei, Chunsun
Harley, Noah
Hotchkiss, Andrew
Martin, Andrew
Yuly, Mark
Padalino, Stephen J.
Forrest, Chad J.
Sangster, Thomas C.
Regan, Sean P.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Houghton University
Abstract
A system for creating Sn or Ag coated Li targets was developed for a Multi-Terra Watt (MTW) laser Target Normal Sheath Acceleration (TNSA) experiment to study the 7Li(d, p)8Li reaction. The Li targets were designed to have a ~50 nm thick coating to prevent Li from interacting with air and water vapor and be ~2 μm thick to reduce energy loss. The films were produced in a ~10−5 Torr evacuated deposition chamber in which about 15 A flowing one way through a diode circuit heated a stainless-steel boat holding a Li pellet to a thermocouple-measured temperature of nearly 400℃, evaporating the Li onto a 25 μm thick stainless-steel substrate. A current of up to 60 amps flowing the opposite direction through another diode heated a molybdenum boat holding a Sn or Ag pellet, evaporating the metal and forming the thin coating over the Li. The thicknesses were measured using a micrometer, magnetic adhesion, a home-made mechanical profilometer, and Rutherford backscattering. To allow Li metal to be weighed and inserted into the boat, an Air-filled glove box was constructed around the deposition chamber. Funded in part by a grant from the DOE through the Laboratory for Laser Energetics, and by SUNY Geneseo and Houghton University.
Description
Event
65th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics, Denver, CO, October 30 – November 3, 2023.
Keywords
Student Projects