Triton emission in the interactions of fast neutrons with nuclei

Cross sections have been measured for the formation of tritium in the interactions with Li, Be, B, C, N, O, F, Ne, Na, Mg, Al, Si, P, S, Cl, Ar, Ca, V, Co, As, Y, La, Pr, Tb, Ho and Tl of fast neutrons produced via break-up of 53 MeV deuterons on a Be target (E_n = 11.5–43.5 MeV; I_max at 22.5 MeV; FWHM = 15.8 MeV). The activation technique in combination with vacuum extraction and low-level gas phase β^? counting of tritium was employed. Furthermore, cross sections were measured for isotopes of the elements Ne, Mg, Ar, Ca, Ti, Cr, Fe, Ni, Zn, Ge, Se, Zr, Mo, Pd, Te, Ba, Pr, Dy, W, Tl and Pb by γ-ray spectroscopic analysis of the radioactive reaction products. A comparison of the two sets of cross sections shows that for nuclei with A > 40 the emission of three single particles (lp2n) is much more probable than the emission of a bound tri-nucleon (³H). The cross-section data obtained via tritium counting show that the (n, t) cross sections for the lightest nuclei are exceptionally large, probably due to direct interactions, and the process competes with other modes of de-excitation; for elements with Z > 20, on the other hand, the cross section is low (< 0.25 % ofσ_n.e.) and practically constant, showing thereby that in the medium and heavy mass regions the probability of emission of a triton is relatively independent of the target nucleus. A comparison of the cross-section systematics at E_n = 14.6 MeV and for the neutron spectrum described above is presented; the trends are somewhat similar.