Calibration of direct nuclear activation diagnostics for measuring intense proton, lithium, and fluorine beams

In the light-ion-beam fusion program at Sandia National Laboratories an intense Lithium beam is being developed to drive inertial confinement fusion targets. Since beam purity is an important issue, direct nuclear activation diagnostics based on the thick target yields of the reactions Li-7(p,n) Be-7, B-10(p,alpha) Be-7, F-19(Li-7,d)Na-24 and B-11(F-19,2p) Mg-28 have been developed to measure the proton, lithium, and fluorine content of the beam. The specific target materials chosen for this work are LiF and BN. To calibrate these diagnostics, a Van de Graaff accelerator was used to measure the thick target yields as a function of ion energy for each of the ion and target material combinations. Each target material was also irradiated by carbon ions to assess the importance of any possible competing reactions. The results of these calibration studies are presented. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.