Design of the low energy astrophysics research facility CLAIRE

A novel nuclear astrophysics facility, CLAIRE (Center for Low Energy Astrophysics and Interdisciplinary REsearch), is being designed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to address the need for precise fusion cross section measurements at near-solar energies ( 20 keV). At these low energies, fusion cross sections decrease exponentially with energy and are expected to approach femtobarn levels or less. In order to measure such small cross sections, the CLAIRE facility will incorporate a versatile accelerator capable of transporting high current (>100 mA), low energy (50–300 keV) ion beams with a tight focus (<1 cm) to a cooled, dense gas-jet target. The conceptual design for this accelerator is discussed, and simulations of both beam extraction and transport are presented. 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. PACS: 41.75. I; 41.85.Ja