New supersonic gas jet target for low energy nuclear reaction studies

A windowless supersonic gas jet target (SUGAR) has been put in operation recently in Mexico. It is the first target of its kind in the country and the region. New research opportunities become available with this facility through the study of the direct beam-gas interaction: nuclear physics and astrophysics, atomic physics, interaction of radiation with matter and other interdisciplinary applications. A general description of the apparatus and its commissioning is given here. Air, nitrogen and argon jets were produced. Proton and deuteron beams were used to measure key parameters of the system to compare with theoretical estimates. In addition, as a first study case, we present data from the N-14(d,alpha)C-12 reaction, at center of mass energies between 1.9 and 3.0 MeV with an E-Delta E telescope detector at 35 degrees. Excitation functions for several excited states were constructed and an O-16 resonance at 22.72 MeV was confirmed.