An independent measurement of the 12C(α, γ)16O cross section with the Karlsruhe 4π BaF2 detector.

Many measurements of the 12C(α, γ)16O cross section have been performed up to now but only a few could measure at energies as low as 1 MeV. All of these measurements at low energy have been carried out using Germanium detectors. The low gamma-ray efficiency of these detectors was compensated by very intense beam currents, which may cause considerable uncertainties due to severe target degradation. A verification of these data with a completely different approach, which could reveal systematic uncertainties, was still missing. The realization of such an independent measurement was performed with the Karlsruhe 4π BaF2 array. Due to its high gamma-ray efficiency the beam current could be substantially reduced thus minimizing the thermal load of the target and avoiding sputtering effects. © 2006 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]