The new SuperORRUBA detector for transfer reaction studies of exotic nuclei

The astrophysical rapid neutron-capture process (r-process) is recognized as the scenario responsible for the synthesis of approximately half of the nuclear species more massive than Fe. Unfortunately, almost nothing is known about the structure of the majority of the extremely neutron-rich nuclei involved in the r-process reaction flow. At exotic beam facilities such as the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility (HRIBF), measurements with accelerated beams of fission fragments have provided some of the first spectroscopic information on many r-process nuclei. In particular, the study of transfer reactions in inverse kinematics has yielded important spectroscopic information. While these measurements are experimentally challenging, they can be facilitated by surrounding the target by a large array of segmented silicon detectors. The SuperORRUBA (Oak Ridge Rutgers University Barrel Array) detector has been constructed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for this purpose. The detector is now in routine use and has made possible several new measurements at the HRIBF.