Upgrade of the HIPPO jet gas target

The study of low energy (α, γ) reactions is fundamental to understand the nucleosynthesis during stellar helium burning. HIPPO, a supersonic windowless helium gas jet target, is prepared as the target for the beam from the 5 MeV 5U electrostatic accelerator located at Nuclear Science Laboratory (NSL) of the University of Notre Dame. Connected to the target area, St. George recoil separator has been developed to perform, in inverse kinematic, radiative capture experiments of interest to nucleosynthesis. Inverse kinematics, here, means that a heavy ion beam is bombarding a lighter nuclear target. The nozzle-catcher system and chamber have been designed and constructed. A differential pumping system is set up to lower the pressure in the target chamber down to 10^-7 torr in the beamline. The advantages of the windowless design and advantages that gas target compared with the solid target will be discussed. An Arduino based system is set up to control the pumps with the touch screen. We have performed the pressure measurement and initial experiments are discussed along with plans for future use at NSL.