Motorized manipulator of metal foils for degrading heavy ion beam energy

Abstract In experiments involving the synthesis of super-heavy elements through heavy ion reactions, it was crucial to precisely adjust the mean energy of the heavy ion beam to identify the narrow peaks of the excitation functions. A motorized manipulator was developed to degrade the heavy ion beam, enabling the adjustment of the mean energy in finer increments and faster than was achievable by the cyclotron alone. Thin metal foils used as ion beam energy degraders were positioned on an aluminum mount with windows. The ion beam traverses these degraders, leading to energy loss, and the final energy can be adjusted to the desired value by varying the effective thickness of the foils. This study includes a calculation of the ion beam energy after energy loss, along with an experimental evaluation of energy loss straggling and a calculation of energy distribution inside the target. The tests carried out revealed that simulations may underestimate beam energy loss straggling, highlighting the importance of experimental measurements of the beam energy distribution for real material dimensions.