Study of the neutron-induced reaction O-17(n, alpha)C-14 at astrophysical energies via the Trojan Horse Method

Stellar nucleosynthesis processes are of vital importance for nuclear physics: all the heavy elements are created by neutron capture reactions that take place in stars. To correctly study such reactions the neutron abundance available in the environment must be known, which means that also the so-called "neutron poisons" must be considered. The present work will focus on the reaction O-17(n, alpha)C-14 which removes neutrons from the stellar environment during the s-process. Even though the study of such reactions is of high interest, it still presents several technological problems regarding both the creation and characterization of the neutron beam and the radioprotection of the facility. Therefore, the Trojan Horse Method, an indirect method, has been chosen to study the O-17(n, alpha)C-14 reaction in the energy region of astrophysical interest, from 300 keV in the center-of-mass frame down to zero. In the present work, after briefly recalling the main features of the method and reporting on the state of the art for the reaction cross-section measurements, the latest THM experiment will be presented.