Neutron and high-energy gamma-ray emission in 12C Induced reactions on 159Tb

The gamma-ray multiplicity associated with the emission of high-energy gamma rays and neutrons following ¹²C+¹⁵⁹Tb reactions at E_lab= 100 MeV has been measured. The spin decrease deduced for coincident gamma rays within the GDR energy region is found to be in agreement with an estimate based on a statistical model. Neutron spectra measured in coincidence with high-energy gamma rays are explained in terms of two components. The cooler component corresponds to neutrons evaporated from the compound nucleus. The hotter component emanates from a precompound source moving in the center-of-mass system along the beam direction. The multiplicity of gamma-ray cascades, coincident with neutrons from the two different sources, has been deduced. The results show that beside the GDR there appears to be a second source of gamma rays with E_γ≈10MeV. These gamma rays are emitted in more peripheral reactions and before neutron evaporation.     

Die Energieverteilung der Neutronen aus einer Po-α-Be-Quelle

The neutrons from a Po-α-Be source were detected via the recoil protons in a stilbene scintillator. The pulse height spectrum of the scintillations produced in the stilbene crystal by the recoil protons is analysed to yield the incident neutron energy distribution. Theγ-ray background was eliminated through pulse shape discrimination. Separately the spectrum of neutrons coincident withγ-rays, i.e. of neutrons from the Be⁹(α,n)C^12* reaction, has been determined. The resulting spectra are compared to previous measurements. The structure of the spectra is not compatible with an isotropic angular distribution of the neutrons relative to theα-direction. Furthermore it could be shown that the fraction of reactions leading to the 7,65 MeV state of C¹² is only about 10^?3.     

Competition between few nucleon emission andγ-ray deexcitation for the reaction systems65Cu+87Rb and40Ar+110Pd

Bothγ-ray and neutron emission have been studied for the reaction systems⁶⁵Cu(237MeV) +⁸⁷Rb→¹⁵²Dy^* and⁴⁰Ar(158MeV)+¹¹⁰Pd→¹⁵⁰Gd^*. By using a sum spectrometer in coincidence with neutron counters, Ge(Li) or Nal detectors, we have measured the totalγ-ray energy and the average totalγ-multiplicity distributions as well as the neutron spectra for various exit channels. These measurements provide strong evidence for thermal equilibrium in reactions involving a small number of emitted neutrons (i.e.⁸⁷Rb(⁶⁵Cu,n or 2n)) at rather high excitation energy (～54MeV). This statistical emission of only a few neutrons is controlled by very strong y-ray competition: theγ-entry line is found not to be parallel to the yrast line. Instead the energy gap is about 8MeV for J～27? and rises to at least 13MeV for J～36?. There are some indications that the main part of the energy from this gap is removed by statisticalγ-ray cascades. The main features of the experimental data for both entrance channels are well reproduced by statistical model calculations with proper attention to the yrast line position and an adjustement of the dipoleγ-ray normalization coefficient. It is conceivable that the y-ray enhancement that we introduce may be related to a lack of knowledge of the absolute level densities at high energy and spin, or possibly to the presence of new or additional degrees of freedom that may enter into the competition between neutron andγ-ray emission.     

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.     

High energy gamma-ray production from 44 MeV/A 86Kr bombardment on nuclei

The double differential cross section for high energy (E_γ>20 MeV) gamma-rays were measured for collisions of ⁸⁶Kr on C, Ag and Au at 44 MeV/A. For E_{γ>30 MeV}, the spectra are exponential with a constant slope parameter of 12.1 MeV. For the three targets used the source velocity is close to half the velocity. In the frame of the source the angular distribution is almost isotropic, with a small dipole-like component. The data are in qualitative agreement with the incoherent neutron-neutron proton collision model.     

Determination of Moisture Content in Coke with <Superscript>239</Superscript>Pu–Be Neutron Source and BGO Scintillation Gamma Detector

A series of experiments has been conducted at the Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics (FLNP) of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in order to study the possibility of determining the moisture content of coke using a standard neutron source. The proposed method is based on a measurement of the spectrum of prompt γ rays emitted when samples are irradiated by fast and/or thermal neutrons. The moisture content is determined from the area of the peaks of characteristic γ rays produced in the radiative capture of thermal neutrons by the proton (E_γ = 2.223 MeV) and inelastic scattering of fast neutrons by ¹⁶O (E_γ = 6.109 MeV). The ²³⁹Pu–Be neutron source (〈E _n 〉 ~ 4.5 MeV) with an intensity of ~5 × 10⁶ n/s was used to irradiate the samples under study. A scintillation detector based on a BGO crystal was used to register the characteristic γ radiation from the inelastic fast neutron scattering and slow (thermal) neutron capture. This paper presents the results of humidity measurement in the range of 2–50% [1, 2].     

Probing fission time scales with neutrons and GDR gamma rays

The time scales for nuclear fission have been explored using both pre-and postfission neutrons and GDR gamma rays. Four systems were investigated: 133-MeV ¹⁶O + ¹⁷⁶Yb and ²⁰⁸Pb and 104-MeV ⁴He + ¹⁸⁸Os and ²⁰⁹Bi. Fission fragments were measured in coincidence with PPACs. The neutrons were detected using eight detectors from the DEMON array, while gamma rays were measured using the US BaF2 array. The pre-and postfission gamma rays were determined using moving source fits parallel and perpendicular to the fission fragment emission directions. The time scales for fission for the neutrons were determined using the neutron clock technique. The gamma-ray data were fitted using a statistical model calculation based on the code CASCADE. The results of the fits from both data types were used to extract nuclear friction coefficients, γ, and fission time scales. The γ values ranged from 7 to 20, while the fission times were (31–105)×10^?21 s.     

Gamma-ray emission in competition with neutron emission in the beta decay of Br

Evidence is presented for the existence of a γ-ray at 5594.7±0.6 keV following beta decay of ⁸⁷Br. This observation indicates population of neutron unbound levels in ⁸⁷Kr from which photon emission competes successfully with neutron emission.     

Messung der Zirkularpolarisation der 478 keV-Gammaquanten aus der Reaktion Li6(d,p)Li7 mit 2 MeV-Deuteronen

The circular polarizationP _γ of 478 keVγ quanta from the reaction Li⁶(d, pγ) Li⁷ with 2 MeV deuterons was measured by forward Compton scattering from magnetized iron. The protons were observed at 25° lab angle. The fast neutron background in theγ detector was suppressed by pulse shape discrimination. The resultP _γ=+ 0.022 ± 0.17 with the Basel sign convention confines the ratio of the reduced widthsΘ _± for the capture of the neutron withj=1±1/2 to the regions ?2.36≦Θ ₊/Θ _?≦?0.74 or ?0.06≦Θ ₊/Θ _?≦+0.61.     

The 33 and 43 MeV (3He, xnγ) exclusive reactions on targets from Zr to Pb

Exclusive neutron spectra for neutron multiplicities x = 3, 4 and 5 have been obtained using the 33 and 43 MeV (³He, xnγ) reactions on targets of Zr, Pd, Sn, Nd, Pt, Au, and Pb. The exclusive spectral shapes vary systematically with the energy available for neutron decay in the initial or precompound nucleus. The (³He, xnγ) reaction differs from the (αxnγ) reaction at the same beam energy per nucleon in its dependence on available energy, target, and incident angular momentum.     

Light-particle emission in the reaction of 93Nb + 14N at 132, 159 and 208 MeV

Nonequilibrium light-particle emissions have been investigated in the reaction ⁹³Nb + ¹⁴N at 132, 159 and 208 MeV by measuring inclusive differential cross sections of p, d, t, ³He and α. The experimental data were analyzed in terms of three models: (i) an extended exciton model, (ii) a coalescence model, and (iii) a moving thermal source model. The angle-integrated energy spectra of the protons were well described by the extended exciton model in which projectile nucleons were assumed to be transferred to the target one by one, but those of composite particles were not. On the other hand, the composite particle spectra (except for α at forward angles) were successfully described by the coalescence model using spectra consistent with those for the protons. Extracted coalescence radii P₀ were about 140 MeV/c for d and t, and about 220 MeV/c for α. The light-particle spectra were also fitted by the moving-source model assuming isotropic emission from a source moving with approximately half of the beam velocity and with much higher temperature than that of the compound nucleus. Extracted temperatures followed the systematics of a recent compilation for the various reactions. A discussion of these analyses is given.     

Temperatures determined from neutron emission in nucleus-nucleus collisions

Most neutron spectra from ¹⁴N+¹⁶⁵Ho collisions at 35 MeV/nucleon are described by two moving thermal sources, one at a temperature of ≈2.5 MeV and the other of ≈8 MeV. Resonances in gragment-neutron relative velocity spectra are used to determine a temperature from the relative populations of excited states of ¹³C nuclei. There is a discrepancy with the equilibrium assumption in that the fitted value, ≈1 MeV, does not match that of either thermal source.     

Cold and hot binary and ternary fission yields in the spontaneous fission of 252Cf

The spontaneous fission (SF) of ²⁵²Cf has been studied via γ-γ-γ coincidence and light charged particle—γ-γ coincidence with Gammasphere. The yields of correlated Mo-Ba pairs in binary fission with 0–10 neutron emission have been remeasured with an uncompressed cube. The previous hot fission mode with 8–10 neutron emission seen in the Mo-Ba split is found to be smaller than earlier results but still present. New 0n binary SF yields are reported. By gating on the light charged particles detected in ΔE-E detectors and γ-γ coincidence with Gammasphere, the relative yields of correlated pairs in alpha ternary fission with zero to 6n emission are observed for the first time. The peak occurs around the α2n channel. A number of correlated pairs are identified in ternary fission with ¹⁰Be as the light charged particle. We observed only cold, 0n ¹⁰Be and little, if any, hot, xn ¹⁰Be channels.     

Nuclear interaction dynamics in the 56Fe (α, xn) reaction

Neutron spectra and angular distributions in the ⁵⁶Fe (α, xn) reaction are measured at α-particle energies of 12.5, 16.3, 18.3, 26.8, and 45.2 MeV. The measurements are performed using time-of-flight fast neutron spectrometers on pulsed accelerators. The measured data are analyzed in the context of equilibrium, preequilibrium, and direct nuclear reaction mechanisms. The contributions from equilibrium, preequilibrium, and direct mechanisms of neutron emission are studied over a wide range of α-particle energies.     

Neutron multiplicities in inelastic collisions of132Xe with197Au

Neutrons have been detected in coincidence with charged reaction products in inelastic scattering of 7.5 MeV/u¹³²Xe ions from¹⁹⁷Au. The deduced neutron multiplicities associated with the heavy and light fragment, respectively, are roughly proportional to the total kinetic energy loss, and their ratios are close to the Au-Xe mass ratio for allQ-values. These results and the measured neutron energy spectra are consistent with the assumptions of thermal equilibrium between the fragments at scission, and of neutron emission from fully accelerated fragments. For deep inelastic events, the measured absolute multiplicities are smaller than expected from statistical model calculations, but an effect due to pre-equilibrium emission of particles — as suggested by an earlier analysis of the present data [1] — cannot be definitely established.     

Measurement of neutron energy spectra and neutron-gamma angular correlations for the muon capture process 16O(μ−, νμxn)14, 15N

Neutron-gamma coincidence spectra have been measured for muon capture in ¹⁶O. The γ-spectrum is dominated by the ground state transitions from the $\text{3}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}\text{(6.32}\text{MeV}\text{)}\text{and}\text{1}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{+}\text{5}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{(5.3}\text{MeV}\text{)}$ states of ¹⁵N that are populated after the emission of one neutron. The neutron energy spectra and the neutron energy dependence of the ny angular correlation coefficient A₂ for these final states are presented. The observed transitions in ¹⁴N and the associated neutron spectra give direct evidence for the emission of two correlated neutrons. The data are discussed in terms of direct neutron emission plus emission via giant resonance intermediate states of ¹⁶N. The large yield for the emission of one and two fast neutrons is explained by a capture mechanism involving short-range nucleon-nucleon correlations.     

Double-differential spectra of the secondary particles in the frame of pre-equilibrium model

An approach was developed to describe the double-differential spectra of secondary particles formed in heavy-ion reactions. Griffin model of nonequilibrium processes was used to account for the nonequilibrium stage of the compound system formation. Simulation of de-excitation of the compound system was carried out using the Monte-Carlo method. Analysis of the probability of neutron, proton, and α-particle emission was performed both in equilibrium, and in the pre-equilibrium stages of the process. Fission and γ-ray emission were also considered after equilibration. The analysis of the experimental data on the double-differential cross sections of p, α particles for the ¹⁶O + ¹¹⁶Sn reaction at the oxygen energy E = 130 and 250 MeV were performed.     

Evidence for neutron capture through doorway states in29Si

Theγ-ray spectra following neutron capture in silicon have teen recorded in the neutron energy range 2.7–6.2 MeV and partial cross sections forγ-rays to the 2s_1/2 ground state and 1d_3/2 first excited states in²⁹Si determined. The results indicate considerable fluctuations with neutron energy with a prominent resonance peak at 4.6 MeV in the (n,γ _o) cross section. The existence of fluctuations is predicted in a recent theoretical calculation based on a model designed to include single-particle resonances in nuclear reaction processes.     

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.     

Excited states in neutron deficient even-even thorium isotopes (218≦A≦222)

The nuclei^{218, 220, 222}Th were investigated by conversion electron andγ-ray spectroscopy after compound nucleus reactions of¹⁴N with²⁰⁹Bi and^{16, 18}O with²⁰⁸Pb. The intenseγ-background from fission was suppressed by spectroscopy of conversion electrons andγ-rays in coincidence with the evaporation residues or theirα-decay. Level schemes were determined for²¹⁸Th up toI ^π=10⁺ and for²²⁰Th and²²²Th up toI ^π=15^?. The observed structure of²¹⁸Th may be explained in the spherical shell model with residual interaction by two neutron excitation. ForN≧130 completely different level schemes are observed showing very intense, collective electric dipole transitions (B(E1)?10^?2 W.u.) with energies of typically 200 keV. Interpretation in terms of stable octupole deformations of the ground state as well as in anα-cluster picture are discussed.