Target preparation of highly adhesive enriched 12C on Au substrates by a HIVIPP method

Enriched 12C targets were needed to measure accurately the cross-section of the 12C(α,γ)16O reaction, important in nuclear astrophysics. A target of approximately 100 μg/cm2 thickness was made by depositing carbon powder on a thick (approximately 400 mg/cm2) Au substrate by using the H̄Igh energy V̄Ibrational P̄owder P̄lating method. The powder was made from a carbon plate (>5 mg/cm2), which was produced by a thermal cracking method using enriched 12CH4 gas. The target thus made survived intense and extended beam irradiation, and remained adherent to its substrate.