Cross-sections for the formation of isomeric pair Ge through (n, 2n), (n, p) and (n, α) reactions measured over 13.73 MeV to 14.77 MeV and calculated from near threshold to 20 MeV neutron energies

The cross-sections for formation of isomeric pair, ⁷⁵Ge^m(σ_m) and ⁷⁵Ge^g(σ_g), through ⁷⁶Ge(n, 2n), ⁷⁵As(n, p) and ⁷⁸Se(n, α) reactions were measured at 13.73 MeV, 14.42 MeV and 14.77 MeV neutrons and also estimated using EMPIRE-II and TALYS codes over neutron energies from near threshold to 20 MeV. For each (n, 2n), (n, p) and (n, α) reaction, the cross-section initially increases with neutron energy, but starts decreasing as the neutron energy exceeds the respective threshold of (n, 3n), (n, pn) and (n, αn) reactions. The higher values of σ_m relative to σ_g reveal that the transitions of the excited ⁷⁵Ge from higher energy levels to metastable state (7⁺/2) are favored as compared to unstable ground state (1⁻/2). The present values of cross sections for formation of ⁷⁵Ge^m,g through (n, 2n) and (n, α) reactions are lower, and that of (n, p) reaction are higher compared to most of the corresponding literature cross-sections.