Calibrations for studies of neutron-rich precursor fragments

Heavy ion collisions at relativistic energies produce the radioactive beams used at nuclear structure facilities worldwide. However, there are still unanswered questions about the reaction mechanism of projectile fragmentation and the specific roles that ablation, evaporation, and abrasion play. Using the projectile fragmentation of a $^{32}$Mg beam at 86 MeV/u on a natural Beryllium target at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL), our experimental goal is to better understand the excitation energy and the momentum distribution of the precursors of the observed final fragments (neon, sodium, and fluorine). A suite of charged particle detectors in conjunction with the Modular Neutron Array (MoNA) allows us to analyze both the charged final fragments as well as the coincident neutrons. Detector calibration results and preliminary results will be presented.