Direct measurement of the resonance strengths and branching ratios of low-energy (p, γ) reactions on Mg isotopes *

Abstract

Abstract Proton capture reactions on Mg isotopes are significant in the Mg-Al cycle in stellar H-burning. In particular, the resonance strengths and branching ratios of low-energy resonances in 25Mg( )26Al reactions determine the production of 26Al, which is one of the most important long-lived radioactive nuclei in nuclear astrophysics. In this article, we report our first experiment using the intense proton beam of approximately 2 mA provided by the JUNA accelerator ground laboratory and a new technique that can minimize the composition change of targets under intense beam irradiation. The resonance strengths and branching ratios of E = 214, 304, and 326 keV resonances in the reactions of 24Mg( )25Al, 25Mg( )26Al, and 26Mg( )27Al, respectively, were measured with high accuracy. The success of this experiment provides a good calibration for the nuclear astrophysical experiment at the Jinping underground laboratory.