Preparation of self-supporting nickel targets from Ni, Ni and Ni

The investigation of the distribution of the fusion-barrier height by heavy-ion collisions requires thin self-supporting targets. To increase the accuracy of the measurement the thickness and homogeneity has to be known as precisely as possible.We prepared the self-supporting nickel foils out of the isotopes ⁵⁸Ni, ⁶⁰Ni and ⁶¹Ni. The resulting targets were between 75 and 105 μg/cm^² thick. The foils were produced on copper backing by electron-beam gun evaporation and by extracted ion-beam sputtering, both in high vacuum. To obtain self-supporting nickel foils the copper was removed by etching. We will discuss and compare both methods.