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Active target detection systems, where the gas used as the detection medium is also a target for nuclear reactions, have been used for a wide variety of nuclear physics applications since the eighties. Improvements in Micro-Pattern Gaseous Detectors (MPGDs) and in micro-electronics achieved in the last decade permit the development of a new generation of active targets with higher granularity pad planes that allow spatial and time information to be determined with unprecedented accuracy. A novel active target and time projection chamber (ACTAR TPC), that will be used to study reactions and decays of exotic nuclei at facilities such as SPIRAL2, is presently under development and will be based on MPGD technology. Several MPGDs (Micromegas and Thick GEM) coupled to a 2×2mm2 pixelated pad plane have been tested and their performances have been determined with different gases over a wide range of pressures. Of particular interest for nuclear physics experiments are the angular and energy resolutions. The angular resolution has been determined to be better than 1° FWHM for short traces of about 4cm in length and the energy resolution deduced from the particle range was found to be better than 5% for 5.5MeV particles. These performances have been compared to Geant4 simulations. These experimental results validate the use of these detectors for several applications in nuclear physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a proof-of-principle measurement, the Maya active target detector was employed for a C( p, p) resonant elastic scattering experiment in inverse kinematics. The excitation energy region from 0 to 3MeV above the proton breakup threshold in N was investigated in a single measurement. By using the capability of the detector to localize the reaction vertex and record the tracks of the recoiling protons, data covering a large solid angle could be utilized, at the same time keeping an energy resolution comparable with that of direct-kinematics measurements. The excitation spectrum in N was fitted using the R-matrix formalism. The level parameters extracted are in good agreement with previous studies. The active target proved its potential for the study of resonant elastic scattering in inverse kinematics with radioactive beams, when detection efficiency is of primary importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The low-energy identification station at SPIRAL (Système de Production d'Ions Radioactifs Accélérés en Ligne) has been upgraded for studying the β decays of short-lived radioactive isotopes and to perform high-precision half-life and branching-ratio measurements for superallowed Fermi and isospin T= mirror β decays. These new capabilities, combined with an existing Paul trap setup for measurements of β–ν angular-correlation coefficients, provide a powerful facility for investigating fundamental properties of the electroweak interaction through nuclear β decays. A detailed description of the design study, construction, and first results obtained from an in-beam commissioning experiment on the β+ decays O and 17F are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]