The production of sulfur targets for γ-ray spectroscopy

The production of thin sulfur targets for nuclear physics, either in elemental or in compound form, is problematic, due to low melting points, high vapor pressures and high dissociation rates. Many sulfur compounds have been tried in the past without great success. In this paper, we report the use of spray coating molybdenum disulfide onto a thin carbon backing. The targets were of thickness 750 μg/cm2 (∼300 μg/cm2 of sulfur) on 15 μg/cm2 carbon backings, and withstood 4 pnA (∼10 mW/cm2) of deposited beam power for several days without apparent loss of sulfur content.