Preparation and characterization of strontium targets for nuclear astrophysics experiments

The present paper describes preparation and characterization of strontium targets for nuclear astrophysical experiments with alpha particles accelerated near the Gamow window energy. SrF2 and SrCO3 targets were obtained by thermal evaporation in similar conditions. Target characteristics (thickness, chemical purity and surface morphology) were determined via α transmission measurements, XRD and SEM/EDX analysis. The results reveal the SrF2 target exhibits better properties compared to the SrCO3 one for our nuclear astrophysics experiments. This result was supported by nuclear activation measurements with an α beam at the Bucharest Tandem 9 MV accelerator.