Felsenkeller shallow-underground accelerator laboratory for nuclear astrophysics (at p-process workshop)

A very low background level is a key requirement for low-energy nuclear astrophysics experiments. A series of detailed high energy (E> 3 MeV) laboratory gamma-background study with escape-suppressed HPGe detectors has been performed at the surface of the Earth [1,2], at shallow underground (110 m w. e.) in the Felsenkeller laboratory in Dresden, Germany [2,3], at medium deep underground (400 m w. e.) in the Reiche Zeche mine in Freiberg, Germany [3], and at deep underground (3800 m w. e.) in LNGS in Gran Sasso, Italy [1]. The data show that already a shallow underground site has sufficiently low gamma-background for many nuclear astrophysics studies when an additional active shield is used to veto the remaining muon flux [2,3].
Benefiting from these low background conditions, a used 5 MV Pelletron tandem accelerator with external high-current sputter ion source for hydrogen and carbon beams is currently being refurbished for installation in Felsenkeller [4]. Installation of an additional radio-frequency ion source on the high voltage terminal is under way. The ions will be injected into the acceleration tube by an electrostatic deflector, thus the tandem mode of operation will be kept. With the RF-source up to 100A alpha beam is foreseen. Similarly high proton current either from the external or the internal source will be available. In addition, also a large, well-shielded HPGe detector for offline counting will be included in the new laboratory, enabling activation experiments.

The Felsenkeller accelerator will be used in part for in-house research by HZDR and TU Dresden, aiming for complementarity with the LUNA-MV project and science program. In addition, external users from any field of science will be highly welcome at Felsenkeller. Users are to be selected based on the recommendations of an independent group of outside advisers judging the scientific merits of the proposals.
Owing to the high current of the 5 MV Pelletron and the low laboratory background, the Felsenkeller laboratory may be suited to study p-process related nuclear reactions.

In addition to the detailed introduction of the new Felsenkeller accelerator laboratory, the talk will flash the recent status of the KADoNiS-p database [5].

• Supported by the Helmholtz Association (HGF) through the Nuclear Astrophysics Virtual Institute (NAVI, HGF VH-VI-417)

[1] T. Szücs et al., Eur. Phys. J. A 44, (2010) 513
[2] T. Szücs et al., Eur. Phys. J. A 48, (2012) 8
[3] T. Szücs et al., Eur. Phys. J. A 51, (2015) 33
[4] D. Bemmerer et al., Procc. of Sciences NIC XIII, (2015) 044
[5] T.Szücs et al., Nucl. Data Sheets 120, (2014) 191
http://www.kadonis.org/pprocess/