Momentum distributions of <Superscript>4</Superscript>He nuclei from the <Superscript>6</Superscript>He and <Superscript>6</Superscript>Li breakup

Experimental data on the momentum distributions of ⁴He nuclei originating from ⁶He and ⁶Li breakup on various targets are presented over a wide beam energy range. The experiment with ⁶He was performed at the DRIBs accelerator complex for radioactive beams at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR, Dubna). The intensity of the ⁶He beam used was 5 × 10⁶ particles per second and its energy was 10 MeV per nucleon. The momentum distributions of breakup products were measured by means of the MSP-144 magnetic spectrometer. The distribution width was shown to be virtually independent of the target mass. A small value of this width, σ ～ 28 MeV/c, confirms the presence of a halo in ⁶He. The measurements performed with ⁶Li beams of energy 18 and 46 MeV per nucleon at the U-400M accelerator yielded a width value of σ ～ 50 MeV/c for the momentum distributions of ⁴He nuclei, which is intermediate between that for ⁶He and those for stable nuclei. A compilation of the widths of the momentum distributions of fragments originating from the breakup of various nuclei is presented versus the binding energy of one or two neutrons in these nuclei, the target mass and the projectile energy.     

Mean energies of prompt fission neutrons in the neutron-induced fission of <Superscript>235</Superscript>U at primary energies in the range <Emphasis Type="Italic">E</Emphasis><Subscript>n</Subscript> < 20 MeV

The spectra of neutrons accompanying the induced fission of ²³⁵U target nuclei are described theoretically. It is confirmed that a third neutron source must be introduced in order to reproduce the shape of experimental distributions at high energies of primary neutrons (previously, a third source was used in describing the spectra of neutrons emitted in ²³²Th and ²³⁸U fission). On the basis of experimental results and their analysis, the mean energy of fission neutrons is estimated as a function of the bombarding-neutron energy up to E _n = 20 MeV.     

Neutron emission from 14N + 165Ho collisions at 35 MeV/u

Neutron emission from ¹⁴N + ¹⁶⁵Ho collisions has been studied at 25 MeV/u incident energy. Energy and angular distributions of the neutrons were measured in coincidence with projectile-like fragments (Li, Be, B, and C) emitted at angles of 10° and 30°. The spectra of neutrons at angles far from the angle of a coincident fragment have been satisfactorily parameterized in terms of a slowly moving, target-like source of temperature 2–3 MeV and a half-beam-velocity source of temperature about 7 MeV. The latter source accounts for about 20% of the detected neutrons for in-plane measurements. The out-of-plane cross sections are smaller. The relevant parameters of the moving-sources parametrization suggest a simple model which qualitatively explains the data in terms of the development of a hot participant zone and its subsequent mass exchange interactions with spectators in the projectile and target nuclei.     

Photoneutron cross section of 34S

Using an enriched ³⁴S target, the reaction ³⁴S(γ, sn) has been measured from below threshold (10.4 MeV) to 28 MeV by directly counting the photoneutrons as a function of bremsstrahlung energy. The resultant cross section shows gross splitting in the GDR region. The integrated cross section is discussed in the light of the systematics of similar nuclei having two neutrons outside a doubly closed shell/sub-shell core.     

Time features of delayed neutrons and partial emissive-fission cross sections for the neutron-induced fission of 232Th nuclei in the energy range 3.2–17.9 MeV

The energy dependence of the relative abundances of delayed neutrons and the energy dependence of the half-lives of their precursors in the neutron-induced fission of ²³²Th nuclei in the energy range 3.2–17.9 MeV were measured for the first time. A systematics of the time features of delayed neutrons is developed. This systematics makes it possible to estimate the half-life of delayed-neutron precursors as a function of the nucleonic composition of fissile nuclei by using a single parameter set for all nuclides. The energy dependence of the partial cross sections for emissive fission in the reaction ²³²Th(n, f) was analyzed on the basis of data obtained for the relative abundances of delayed neutrons and the aforementioned half-lives and on the basis of the created systematics of the time features of delayed neutrons. It was shown experimentally for the first time that the decrease in the cross section after the reaction threshold in the fission of ²³²Th nuclei (it has a pronounced first-chance plateau) is not an exclusion among the already studied uranium, plutonium, and curium isotopes and complies with theoretical predictions obtained for the respective nuclei with allowance for shell, superfluid, and collective effects in the nuclear-level density and with allowance for preequilibrium neutron emission     

25Mg (α, n)28Si and 26Mg(α, n)29Si as neutron sources in explosive neon burning

The yields of neutrons from the reaction ²⁵Mg(α, n)²⁸Si and of γ-rays from the reaction ²⁵Mg(α, nγ)²⁸Si have been measured as a function of bombarding energy over the range 1.8–6.3 MeV, and the yield of neutrons from ²⁶Mg(α, n)²⁹Si has been measured over the range 1.8–6.0 MeV. Cross sections for ^{25, 26}Mg(α, n)^{28, 29}Si were extracted from the data and compared with global statistical-model calculations. The agreement is very good. Thermonuclear reaction rates under stellar conditions appropriate for explosive neon burning are calculated and their significance for the nucleosynthesis of rare neutron-rich nuclei is discussed.     

Identification of gamma transitions from He and Be ternary fission fragments

He and Be ternary fission processes of ²⁵²Cf have been studied in two experiments with the Gammasphere detector array with light charged particle detectors surrounding the source. From α-γ double gated spectra, neutron multiplicity distributions were determined for related α ternary fission pairs. In going from binary to α ternary SF for approximately the same mass splittings (A ≈ 104–146) the average neutron multiplicity decreases about 0.7 AMU. In the first light charged particle (LCP) γ-γ experiment, the ¹⁰Be spectrum was cutoff below 27 MeV and in the recent experiment, below 18 MeV. For high energy (E > 27 MeV) ¹⁰Be ternary fission, the data indicate that the largest yields go via the cold process (zero neutron evaporation). In the recent experiment with E cutoff of 18 MeV, the ¹⁰Be ternary SF was observed for zero to 4n emissions. It seems that in some cases like ¹³⁶Te, the On channel is the strongest and in the other cases like ¹⁰⁰Zr the 1n or 2n channel dominates. Clearly, there is a shift to lower average number of neutrons emitted for ¹⁰Be compared to α ternary SF. The ¹⁰⁴Zr and ¹³⁶Te cases where zero neutron emission occurs may be related to the fact that these nuclei are near the limits of the more neutron rich Zr and Te nuclei observed. The ¹³⁶Te is more spherical than the heavy partners in the other pairs and this may influence the 0n channel. Finally, the 0n channel may be more enhanced in the first data with the higher ¹⁰Be energy cutoff, leading to lower excitation energy. Also, we confirmed the 3368 keV peak with the FWHM of 60 keV emitted from the moving Be particles in the Doppler effect corrected spectrum.     

Emission of neutrons following muon capture in heavy nuclei

The energy and multiplicity distribution of neutrons following muon capture in heavy nuclei is investigated. High energy neutrons (E > 10 MeV) are shown to be emitted directly by the fundamental capture process.     

Neutron elastic scattering from 116,118,120,122,124Sn

Accurate measurements of neutron differential elastic cross sections have been obtained from even isotopes of Sn. Data are presented for the elastic scattering of 11 MeV neutrons from ^{116, 118, 120, 122, 124}Sn, the elastic scattering for 24 MeV neutrons from ^{116, 118, 124}Sn and the neutron total cross section from ^{118, 120, 122, 124}Sn in the energy ranges 5.0–10.6 MeV and 20.0–26.0 MeV. The elastic scattering data are analyzed in terms of an empirical optical-model potential. The obtained optical-potential parameters are analyzed in terms of energy and isospin dependence and compared with those obtained from proton elastic scattering on even Sn isotopes.     

Neutron production with mixture of deuterium and krypton in Sahand Filippov type plasma focus facility

This Letter reports the order of magnitude enhancement in neutron yield from Sahand plasma focus device with krypton seeded deuterium operation. The highest average neutron yield of 2.2×¹⁰⁹ neutrons per shot was achieved at 1.00 Torr deuterium with 3% krypton which is higher than the best average neutron yield of 3.18×¹⁰⁸ neutrons per shot for pure deuterium operation. Estimation of average neutron energy showed that the maximum and minimum average energies are 2.98±0.6 MeV at 16 kV in 0.25 Torr deuterium with 3% Kr and 2.07±0.2 MeV at 18 kV operation in 0.5 Torr deuterium with 3% Kr, respectively. The anisotropy of neutron emission from Sahand DPF showed that the neutrons are produced mainly by beam-target mechanisms.     

Measurement of Angular Distributions of Gamma Rays from the Inelastic Scattering of 14.1-MeV Neutrons by Carbon and Oxygen Nuclei

The results obtained by measuring the angular and energy distributions of gamma rays originating from the inelastic scattering of 14.1-MeV neutrons by carbon and oxygen nuclei are presented. The measurements in question were performed by the tagged-neutron method in a beam of an ING-27 standard portable neutron generator. The angular distributions of gamma rays emitted by the 2⁺ state of ¹²С at 4.43 MeVand the 3^? state of ¹⁶O at 6.13 MeV were obtained.     

Die Spektren der Neutronen aus den Reaktionen C12(γ,n)C11 und O16(γ,n)O15

The (γ, n)-reactions on carbon and oxygen were studied using the 30,5 MeV brems-strahlung beam of the Heidelberg betatron. The photoneutrons were detected via the recoil protons in a stilbene scintillator. The pulse height spectrum of scintillations produced in the stilbene crystal by the recoil protons is analyzed to yield the incident neutron energy distribution. Theγ-ray and electron background was strongly reduced through pulse shape discrimination. To test the apparatus the spectrum of the neutrons from a Po-α-Be source was measured. The energy spectrum of the photo-neutrons from O¹⁶ shows clearly two peaks at excitation energies of 22,4 and 24,4 MeV also seen in the photo-proton spectra. The energy distribution of the neutrons from C¹² (γ, n) too contains indication of structure already known from the proton spectra from C¹² (γ, p). The derived cross sections of C¹² (γ, n ₀) and O¹⁶ (γ, n ₀) coincide as well in their shape as in their absolute magnitude with the corresponding (γ, p ₀)-cross sections. In both C¹² (γ, n) and O¹⁶ (γ, n)-reaction the neutrons seem to leave the final nucleus mainly in its ground state.     

(n, α) Reactions on light nuclei atE n =13.9 MeV

The reactions¹⁴N (n, α)¹¹B and¹⁰B(n, α)⁷Li were studied with 13.9 MeV neutrons using a counter telescope. Differential cross sections were measured for the transitions to the ground states and to some excited states. The results provide evidence for a strong contribution from a direct reaction mechanism. Systematics of integrated cross sections for the ground state transitions of all known (n, α) reactions on light nuclei with 14 MeV neutrons is also given.     

Investigation of giant-dipole-resonance decay in the (<Emphasis Type="Italic">γ, n</Emphasis>) reactions on <Superscript>52</Superscript>Cr and <Superscript>51</Superscript>V nuclei

The cross sections for the emission of fast neutrons (? _n > 3.7 MeV) in the reactions ⁵²Cr(γ, n)⁵¹Cr and ⁵¹V(γ, n)⁵⁰V at incident-photon energies in the range between 16.0 and 25.8 MeV were studied. The neutron energy spectra were measured at the bremsstrahlung-photon endpoint energies of 18.5, 21.0, and 23.0 MeV for the ⁵²Cr and ⁵¹V nuclei and at the bremsstrahlung-photon energy of 25.5 MeV for the ⁵¹V nucleus. Special features of giant-dipole-resonance decay that are associated with the existence of a structure in photoneutron cross sections and spectra are discussed.     

Determination of the lifetime of excited compound nuclei in fission using the shadow effect

The results of three experiments on the observation of the shadow effect in the fission of ²³⁸U nuclei in a UO₂ single crystal induced by 1.7 and 3.3 MeV neutrons and 25 MeV α-particles are discussed. Comparison is made of the shapes of the fission-fragment angular distributions in the vicinity of two 〈111〉 crystallographic axes directed along and normal to the incident beam. It was found that the displacement of a fissionable nucleus from a lattice site in response to the momentum of the incident particle affects the shape of the shadow. The values of the lifetime of the ²³⁹U compound nucleus were found to be (3.5±1.0) × 10⁻¹⁶sec at an excitation energy of 6.5 MeV and (2.0±0.8) × 10⁻¹⁶sec at 8.1 MeV.     

Transfer to the continuum of 14C via (18O, 16O) reaction

A study of the continuum of ¹⁴C populated by the ¹²C(¹⁸O, ¹⁶O)¹⁴C reaction at 84 MeV incident energy has been performed. The ejectiles have been momentum analyzed at forward angles by the MAGNEX magnetic spectrometer. The energy spectra were obtained up to about 20 MeV excitation energy. The scattering of two neutrons independently removed from the projectile as it passes the target nucleus has been described by means of an optical potential with a semi-classical approximation for the relative motion. The calculations describe a significant part of the continuum observed in the energy spectra. In particular, a resonance of the residual nucleus dominates the region near the two-neutron emission threshold.     

Investigation of spin dependence of neutron cross sections and of strength functions for rare earth nuclei in experiments with polarized neutrons and nuclei

Experiments on the spin dependence of the interaction of resonance neutrons (up to 100 keV) with the rare earth nuclei ¹⁴¹Pr, ¹⁵⁹Tb, ¹⁶⁵Ho, ¹⁶⁷Er and ¹⁶⁹Tm are reported. The measurements were performed with polarized neutrons and nuclei. The spin dependence of S-wave strength functions was investigated, and the imaginary part of the spin-spin potential (W_ss = 0.10 ± 0.06 MeV) was estimated in optical-model calculations with a potential in the form of a rectangular well. The energy dependence of the difference of strength functions for two J-states shows possible intermediate states in the formation of the compound nucleus. The J-values of about 230 resonances were determined.     

States in86Sr,84Sr and87Y populated in the (p,t) reaction

The (p,t) reactions on⁸⁸Sr,⁸⁴Sr and⁸⁹Y have been carried out at a bombarding energy of 49.5 MeV. Some low-lying excitations in⁸⁶Sr and⁸⁴Sr associated with configurations of 1g _9/2 and 2p _1/2 neutrons have been identified. Levels populated to 4 MeV of excitation in the strontium nuclei and to 2.5 MeV in⁸⁷Y have been studied in the present experiment. In the case of⁸⁷Y most of the levels populated are of a complex nature.     

Experimental investigation of the 19F(n, α)16N reaction excitation function in the neutron energy range of 4 to 7.35 MeV

The interaction of neutrons with light nuclei study is of interest for understanding nuclear-reaction mechanisms. Fluorine nuclei are worth particular attention because they are abundant in the core of the promising molten-salt reactors and can noticeably affect the chain reaction kinetics. In this work we have experimentally investigated the ¹⁹F(n, α)¹⁶N reaction cross-section at neutron energies ranging from 4 to 7.35 MeV.