The LUNA project: Status and first results

Abstract

Subthreshold resonance effect in the 6Li(d,α)4He reaction AIP Conf. Proc. 327, 271 (1995) The LUNA Project: Status and First Results C. Arpesella(1), C.A. Barnes(2), F. Bartolucci(1), E. BeUotti(3), C. Broggini(4), P. Corvisiero(5), G. Fiorentini(6), A. Fubini(7), G. Gervino(8), F. Gorris(9), V. Greife(9), C. Gustavino(1), M. Junker(9), R.W.Kavanagh (2), A. Lanza(5), G. Mezzorani(10), P. Prati (5) Fisica and INFN, Cagliari, (11) Politecnico, Torino and INFN, Cagliari, (15) Georgetown University, WashingtonAbstract. LUNA is a pilot project initially focused on the 3He(3He, 2p)4He cross section measurement within the thermal energy region of the Sun (15-27 KeV). A compact high current 50 KV ion accelerator facility including a windowless gas target system, a beam calorimeter and four detector telescopes has been built, tested and installed underground at the Laboratori Nazionaii del Gran Sasso. The sensitivity has been improved by more than four orders of magnitude, as compared to the previous experiment. In particular, thanks to the cosmic ray suppression, we could attain a background level of less than 1 event per week, a rate similar to the one expected from 3He(3He, 2p)4He at the lower edge of the Sun thermal energy region.