Characterization of thin ^<i>nat</i>Si targets

The production of 26 Al is important in the field of stellar nucleosynthesis. The study for the production of 26 Al from the 28 Si(d, α) reaction at energies that are close to the Coulomb barrier requires thin silicon targets. This work reports the characterization of thin silicon targets by using the RBS (Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry) technique, with proton beams, 12 C and 28 Si, taking into account a scattering angle of 140◦ at a range of energies ranging from 841 keV to 7105 keV. This experiment was carried out at the Nuclear Physics line of the National Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Laboratory (LEMA) of the Institute of Physics of UNAM. The first three targets to be characterized, labelled C11, C21 and C31 were fabricated at the Instituto de Investigaciones en Materiales (IIM-UNAM). The fourth target F11 was manufactured at the Microscopy Laboratory of the Institute of Physics (IF-UNAM). The thickness of the targets C11, C21 and C31 was 10 16 atoms/cm 2 . The thickness of the F11 target is 10 17 atoms/cm 2 , therefore, this target is suitable to be used in the production of 26 Al.