Calculations and first results obtained with a SiC prototype of the SPES direct target

In the framework of the SPES project at LNL [A. Bracco, A. Pisent (Ed.), REP 181/02, LNL-INFN, 2002], the realization of a direct ISOL Target for a mid-term radioactive ion beam facility is in progress. Using a primary proton beam of energy 40 MeV and intensity 0.2 mA, a high number of fission products will be obtained in the SPES multi-foil uranium carbide target, keeping a low power density deposition in the refractory matrix [A. Andrighetto, S. Cevolani, C. Petrovich, Eur. Phys J. A 25 (2005) 41]. The exotic species produced by Uranium fission in the target are collected in the ion source after the diffusion and the effusion processes. When short lived isotopes are produced it is very important to optimize the release properties of the target. To this purpose the RIBO code (radioactive ion beam optimiser) [M. Santana Leitner, A Monte Carlo Code to Optimize the Production of Radioactive Ion Beams by the ISOL Technique, PhD. Thesis, UPC-ETSEIB/CERN] has been used in order to estimate the target release efficiency for some neutron-rich nuclei. A SiC prototype of the target was recently produced at LNL and tested at ORNL using a 42 MeV proton beam. The yield of some aluminum isotopes was measured as a function of the target temperature. Some preliminary results of the data analysis will be presented.