Preparation of ^128,130Te targets by evaporation method

In the fabrication of nuclear targets one must take into account several factors which can affect the required precision of data measurements. The appropriate target thickness depends on the experiment where it will be used. Due to the low melting point of tellurium metal of 450 °C, self-supporting Te targets degrade quickly when exposed to particle beams and as supported targets they disappear easily by sublimation or evaporation. It is important to optimize the target thickness as thicker targets lead to larger absorption of beam energy creating elevated target temperatures where re-evaporation of the target material can occur. Evaporated metallic and oxide Te targets were prepared at Target Development Laboratory (Inter University Accelerator Centre, New Delhi) by vacuum deposition from a resistively heated source boat. A description of the apparatus and production method will be presented