High Efficiency Total Absorption Spectrometer HECTOR for capture reaction measurements

Proper understanding of the stellar nucleosynthesis processes requires information on a variety of capture reaction cross sections. Since these cross sections are typically very low, they require efficient measurement techniques. The High Efficiency Total Absorption Spectrometer (HECTOR) was designed to measure capture cross sections relevant for astrophysical processes. HECTOR is a γ -summing detector comprised of 16 separate NaI(Tl) segments. The detector design is presented, as well as a detailed study of the detector's summing efficiency and analysis procedure. The results of the commissioning of HECTOR are presented. The resonance strengths of the well-known resonances in the ²⁷Al (p,γ)²⁸Si reaction measured with HECTOR are compared with the literature values.