Cost effective production of solid Hg targets useful for measuring nuclear reaction cross-sections.

The rarest of all the stable nuclei that exist in the universe are p-nuclei (proton-rich nuclei). The astrophysical processes responsible for their synthesis is not properly understood. The heaviest p-nucleus, Hg196, is studied through the method of activation, to better understand (p, $\gamma )$, ($\alpha $, $\gamma )$ and (p, n) reaction cross-sections. The experiment requires solid mercury target with thickness between 1 mg/cm$^{\mathrm{2}}$ and 10 mg/cm$^{\mathrm{2}}$. Production of solid Hg targets is technically challenging. Challenges include reducing contaminants in compound targets, creating targets of uniform thickness, and creating the targets that are self-supporting. Cost effective production processes such as palletization, drop casting, electroplating, amalgamation and wet chemistry methods will be discussed along with advantages and disadvantages. Target characterization will also be presented.