Fast neutron capture reactions in nuclear astrophysics

The cross sections of the neutron capture reaction on light nuclei, protons,¹²C and¹⁶O, were measured at astrophysically relevant energies between 10 and 300 keV. They are not only important for estimating yields of elements in the primordial nucleosynthesis, stellar nucleosynthesis of s-, r-, and p-processes, but also to study the role of meson exchange currents, the nuclear structure and the reaction mechanism. In the measurement, we used a prompt γ-ray detection method, combined with a pulsed neutron beam, and a recently developed Monte-Carlo code, TIME-MULTI, to correct for neutron multiple-scattering effects in a sample.