Diamond targets for hyperon interaction studies

When studying the interaction of short-lived particles with nuclei, a target of the highest possible density is advantageous. Very large diamond targets were prepared to investigate the interaction of Ξ particles with carbon nuclei. The high density of diamond significantly increases the probability that the Ξ will interact before it decays. The present target construction depended on the availability of commercially produced 1-cm square diamond wafers which could be assembled into 1-cm cubes. Targets of 40 cm3 for Brookhaven AGS experiment E885 and 16 cm3 for an experiment at the KEK Laboratory, Japan, were made. Analysis of the E885 data confirmed the higher yield with diamond over lower-density carbon targets.