Signals from adjacent anode strips signify the assembly was correct and working.
TACTIC is a cylindrical time projection chamber for the detection of low-energy ions ejected from nuclear reactions. The chamber, which is being built by a collaboration of the University of York and TRIUMF, allows the three-dimensional reconstruction of ion tracks by means of a two-dimensional anode array combined with a time-of-flight measurement of the drift electrons. It will be used to measure the strength of astrophysical significant nuclear reactions that occur in stars, such as the seed reaction that feeds the nucleosynthesis of the heavy elements inside supernovae.
On July 24, 2007, the chamber assembly was completed at York University and installed in its gas enclosure, filled with the appropriate detector gas, and hooked up to electronics. An alpha source provided the ionizing radiation. Signals from adjacent anode strips were seen straight away on the scope signifying that the assembly was correct and working.
The TACTIC chamber will be shipped to TRIUMF at the beginning of August. It is scheduled to receive a Boron-11 beam on August 28th to test its track reconstruction capabilities. Formal experiments will be scheduled in 2008.
