Optimization of Gammasphere Data Following the Nuclear Reaction 36Ar + 24Mg → 60Zn∗

Abstract: The experiment at Argonne National Laboratory aimed to study the fusion-evaporation reaction following the collision of a high-energy particle beam of 36Ar with a stationary target of 24Mg. This paper outlines the creation and implementation of an automated re-calibration procedure for the high-purity Germanium detectors comprising the Gammasphere array used for γ-ray spectroscopy in this experiment. A Python script is used to compare the position of peaks in γ-ray spectra to known energy values, utilizing different methods of peak identification. Methods used in the procedure include the Gaussian fit, double Gaussian fit, and center of mass approach, and their accuracy in finding peak positions is compared. The procedure has shown an average decrease in detector array peak width of 6 % and immense time savings over manual re-calibration methods. Using data from the re-calibrated detectors, γ rays from the isomeric decay of 54Fe are correlated and analyzed using γ-γ coincidence matrices in order to find possible γ rays stemming from yet unobserved transitions between excited states of 54Fe. Further developments of the procedure include more in-depth considerations for the drift and non-linear behavior of some detectors, and how to rectify these phenomena.