Measurement of the total neutron cross section of 14N and 24Mg

The total neutron cross section of ¹⁴N and ²⁴Mg has been determined for neutron energies between 1.0 and 5.2 MeV. For this purpose, the attenuation of a continuous neutron spectrum in absorbing samples of liquid natural nitrogen and enriched ²⁴Mg has been measured in open geometry with the time-of-flight technique. A time resolution of 0.07 ns/m was achieved. The obtained data improve the knowledge on the cross section of ¹⁴N above 2 MeV and of ²⁴Mg in the total energy range. In the latter, a large number of resonances is observed for the first time.