A rotating target wheel system for gammasphere

A description is given for a low-mass, rotating target wheel to be used within the Gammasphere target chamber. This system was developed for experiments employing high beam currents in order to extend lifetimes of targets using low-melting point target material. The design is based on a previously successful implementation of rotating target wheels for the Argonne Positron Experiment (APEX) as well as the Fragment Mass Analyser (FMA) at ATLAS (Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System). A brief history of these rotating target wheel systems is given as well as a discussion on target preparation and performance.