²⁴⁰Pu target preparation on thin backing foils for GRETINA experiments using ATLAS

Recent measurements of the octupole strength to the highest spin states in ²⁴⁰Pu were performed using sub-barrier Coulomb excitation in order to unambiguously and convincingly demonstrate the existence of the rotational-aligned phonon condensation in this nucleus. The ²⁴⁰Pu targets were prepared at the Center for Accelerator Target Science by molecular plating onto thin backing foils of C and Al. The required plutonium oxide dissolution, molecular plating methodology, plating results, and in-beam target performance will be discussed.