Kentaro Kitafuji | Searcharxiv

arXiv2026

Energy spectra of light charged particles emitted following muon nuclear capture on $^\mathrm{nat}$Si

Background: Charged-particle emission following muon nuclear capture (muNC) probes the de-excitation dynamics of highly excited nuclei, particularly the interplay between preequilibrium and evaporation processes. While proton emission has been relatively well studied, data on composite charged particles remain limited, especially for low-energy alpha particles. Purpose: This work aims to measure energy spectra for individual charged-particle species following muNC on silicon and constrain theoretical descriptions of preequilibrium, evaporation, and composite-particle emission. Method: An experiment was performed at the RIKEN-RAL Muon Facility. Charged particles were identified using Delta E-E telescopes and digital pulse-shape analysis with nTD-Si detectors. Initial energy spectra were reconstructed by unfolding and compared with the microscopic and evaporation model (MEM) and PHITS calculations incorporating the surface coalescence model and meson-exchange-current extension. Results: Energy spectra of protons, deuterons, tritons, and alpha particles were extracted over a broad energy range, including the first measurement of the low-energy alpha-particle spectrum. MEM more closely reproduces the proton, deuteron, and triton spectral shapes and describes the low-energy alpha-particle spectrum well. PHITS reproduces the overall slope of the alpha-particle spectrum but exhibits particle-dependent discrepancies in absolute yields, including an overestimation of the evaporation component for all four species. Conclusion: The results demonstrate particle-species-dependent differences in charged-particle emission following muNC. These spectra constrain descriptions of preequilibrium and evaporation processes and highlight the need for improved modeling of composite-particle emission.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2023

Effect of large-angle incidence on particle identification performance for light-charged ($Z \le 2$) particles by pulse shape analysis with a pad-type nTD silicon detector

In recent years, particle discrimination methods based on digital waveform analysis techniques for neutron-transmutation-doped silicon (nTD-Si) detectors have become widely used for the identification of low-energy charged particles. Although the particle discrimination capability of this method has been well demonstrated for small incident angles, the particle discrimination performance may be affected by changes in the detector response when the detector is moved closer to the charged particle source and the incident position distribution and incident angle distribution to the detector become wide. In this study, we performed a beam test for particle discrimination in light-charged ($Z \le 2$) particles using the digital waveform analysis method with a pad-type nTD-Si detector and investigated the dependence of the performance of the particle discrimination on the incident position and incident angle. As the incident angle increased, a decrease in the maximum current was observed, which was sufficient to affect the performance of the particle discrimination. This decrease can be expressed as a function of the penetration depth of the charged particles into the detector, which varies for each nuclide.

physics.ins-det↗