Improving the characterization of fusion in a MuSIC detector by spatial localization.*

Multi-Sampling Ionization Chambers (MuSIC) provide an efficient means of measuring nuclear reactions with low beam rates (<10⁶ pps). However, in comparison to thin-target measurements, prior measurements using MuSIC detectors all manifest fusion excitation functions with wide error bars in the energy dimension. This uncertainty limits the applicability of these devices in measuring near and sub-barrier fusion cross-sections. Key to overcoming this limitation is spatial localization of the fusion in the detector.  By comparing the measured ionization in the MuSIC detector with accurate energy loss calculations the position of the fusion in the detector is determined. The analysis not only provides the desired improvement in energy resolution, but it also allows extraction of the atomic number of the evaporation residues following fusion. The effectiveness of this approach is demonstrated for ¹⁸O + ¹²C measured with MuSIC@Indiana.