Refine
Year of publication
Document Type
- Article (92)
- Conference Proceeding (5)
- Preprint (2)
Has Fulltext
- yes (99)
Is part of the Bibliography
- no (99)
Keywords
Institute
- Physik (99) (remove)
The neutron capture cross section of the s-process branch nucleus 63Ni affects the abundances of other nuclei in its region, especially 63Cu and 64Zn. In order to determine the energy-dependent neutron capture cross section in the astrophysical energy region, an experiment at the Los Alamos National Laboratory has been performed using the calorimetric 4πBaF2 array DANCE. The (n,γ) cross section of 63Ni has been determined relative to the well-known 197Au standard with uncertainties below 15%. Various 63Ni resonances have been identified based on the Q value. Furthermore, the s-process sensitivity of the new values was analyzed with the new network calculation tool NETZ.
The proton-removal mechanism of the 12CB reaction induced on a carbon target via elementary nucleon-nucleon scattering is investigated in exclusive triple-coincidence measurements. The observed two-nucleon angular correlations are found to be consistent with quasi-free scattering of a projectile-like proton off a target-like nucleon. Exclusive cross sections for one-step pp and pn interactions are determined as [formula] and [formula], respectively. The extracted quasi-free component amounts up to 58(4)% of the total proton-removal cross section. The results are compared to total proton-removal cross sections obtained from the experiment and eikonal reaction theory.
Experimental study of the ¹⁵O(2p,γ)¹⁷Ne cross section by Coulomb dissociation for the rp process
(2016)
The time-reversed reaction 15O(2p, γ)17Ne has been studied by the Coulomb dissociation technique. Secondary 17Ne ion beams at 500 AMeV have been produced by fragmentation reactions of 20Ne in a beryllium production target and dissociated on a secondary Pb target. The incoming beam and the reaction products have been identified with the kinematically complete LAND-R3B experimental setup at GSI. The excitation energy prior to decay has been reconstructed by using the invariant-mass method. The preliminary differential and integral Coulomb Dissociation cross sections (σCoul) have been calculated, which provide a photoabsorption (σphoto) and a radiative capture cross section (σcap). Additionally, important information about the nuclear structure of the 17Ne nucleus will be obtained. The analysis is in progress.
The Coulomb Dissociation (CD) cross sections of the stable isotopes 92,94,100Mo and of the unstable isotope 93Mo were measured at the LAND/R3B setup at GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt, Germany. Experimental data on these isotopes may help to explain the problem of the underproduction of 92,94Mo and 96,98Ru in the models of p-process nucleosynthesis. The CD cross sections obtained for the stable Mo isotopes are in good agreement with experiments performed with real photons, thus validating the method of Coulomb Dissociation. The result for the reaction 93Mo(γ,n) is especially important since the corresponding cross section has not been measured before. A preliminary integral Coulomb Dissociation cross section of the 94Mo(γ,n) reaction is presented. Further analysis will complete the experimental database for the (γ,n) production chain of the p-isotopes of molybdenum.
The neutron-unbound isotope 13Be has been studied in several experiments using different reactions, different projectile energies, and different experimental setups. There is, however, no real consensus in the interpretation of the data, in particular concerning the structure of the low-lying excited states. Gathering new experimental information, which may reveal the 13Be structure, is a challenge, particularly in light of its bridging role between 12Be, where the N = 8 neutron shell breaks down, and the Borromean halo nucleus 14Be. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the role of bound excited states in the reaction product 12Be after proton knockout from 14B, by measuring coincidences between 12Be, neutrons, and γ rays originating from de-excitation of states fed by neutron decay of 13Be. The 13Be isotopes were produced in proton knockout from a 400 MeV/nucleon 14B beam impinging on a CH2 target. The 12 Be-n relative-energy spectrum d σ /d Ef n was obtained from coincidences between 12Be(g.s.) and a neutron, and also as threefold coincidences by adding γ rays, from the de-excitation of excited states in 12Be. Neutron decay from the first 5/2+ state in 13Be to the 2+ state in 12Be at 2.11 MeV is confirmed. An energy independence of the proton-knockout mechanism is found from a comparison with data taken with a 35 MeV/nucleon 14B beam. A low-lying p-wave resonance in 13Be(1/2−) is confirmed by comparing proton- and neutron-knockout data from 14B and 14Be.
Quasifree one-proton knockout reactions have been employed in inverse kinematics for a systematic study of the structure of stable and exotic oxygen isotopes at the R3B/LAND setup with incident beam energies in the range of 300–450 MeV/u. The oxygen isotopic chain offers a large variation of separation energies that allows for a quantitative understanding of single-particle strength with changing isospin asymmetry. Quasifree knockout reactions provide a complementary approach to intermediate-energy one-nucleon removal reactions. Inclusive cross sections for quasifree knockout reactions of the type AO(p,2p)A−1N have been determined and compared to calculations based on the eikonal reaction theory. The reduction factors for the single-particle strength with respect to the independent-particle model were obtained and compared to state-of-the-art ab initio predictions. The results do not show any significant dependence on proton-neutron asymmetry.
We measured the Coulomb dissociation of 16O into 4He and 12C at the R3B setup in a first campaign within FAIR Phase 0 at GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, Darmstadt. The goal was to improve the accuracy of the experimental data for the 12C(α,γ)16O fusion reaction and to reach lower center-ofmass energies than measured so far.
The experiment required beam intensities of 109 16O ions per second at an energy of 500 MeV/nucleon. The rare case of Coulomb breakup into 12C and 4He posed another challenge: The magnetic rigidities of the particles are so close because of the same mass-to-charge-number ratio A/Z = 2 for 16O, 12C and 4He. Hence, radical changes of the R3B setup were necessary. All detectors had slits to allow the passage of the unreacted 16O ions, while 4He and 12C would hit the detectors' active areas depending on the scattering angle and their relative energies. We developed and built detectors based on organic scintillators to track and identify the reaction products with sufficient precision.
We have studied one-proton-removal reactions of about 500MeV/u 17Ne beams on a carbon target at the R3B/LAND setup at GSI by detecting beam-like 15O-p and determining their relative-energy distribution. We exclusively selected the removal of a 17Ne halo proton, and the Glauber-model analysis of the 16F momentum distribution resulted in an s2 contribution in the 17Ne ground state of about 40%.
We measured the neutron capture cross sections of 69Ga and 71Ga for a quasi-stellar spectrum at kBT = 25 keV and a spectrum with a peak energy at 90 keV by the activation technique at the Joint Research Centre (JRC) in Geel, Belgium. Protons were provided by an electrostatic Van de Graaff accelerator to produce neutrons via the reaction 7Li(p,n). The produced activity was measured via the γ emission of the product nuclei by high-purity germanium detectors. We present preliminary results.
To determine the neutron flux in activation experiments, a commonly used monitor is zirconium and in particular the stable isotopes 94,96Zr. 96Zr is very sensitive to epithermal neutrons. Despite its widespread application, most gamma intensities of the radioactive neutron capture product, 97Zr, yield large uncertainties. With the help of a new γ spectroscopy setup and GEANT simulations, we succeeded in determining a new set of γ-ray intensities with significantly reduced uncertainties.
Accurate measurement of the standard 235U(n,f) cross section from thermal to 170 keV neutron energy
(2020)
An accurate measurement of the 235U(n,f) cross section from thermal to 170 keV of neutron energy has recently been performed at n_TOF facility at CERN using 6Li(n,t)4He and 10B(n,α)7Li as references. This measurement has been carried out in order to investigate a possible overestimation of the 235U fission cross section evaluation provided by most recent libraries between 10 and 30 keV. A custom experimental apparatus based on in-beam silicon detectors has been used, and a Monte Carlo simulation in GEANT4 has been employed to characterize the setup and calculate detectors efficiency. The results evidenced the presence of an overestimation in the interval between 9 and 18 keV and the new data may be used to decrease the uncertainty of 235U(n,f) cross section in the keV region.
Accurate neutron capture cross section data for minor actinides (MAs) are required to estimate the production and transmutation rates of MAs in light water reactors with a high burnup, critical fast reactors like Gen-IV systems and other innovative reactor systems such as accelerator driven systems (ADS). Capture reactions of 244Cm open the path for the formation of heavier Cm isotopes and of heavier elements such as Bk and Cf. In addition, 244Cm shares nearly 50% of the total actinide decay heat in irradiated reactor fuels with a high burnup, even after three years of cooling.
Experimental data for this isotope are very scarce due to the difficulties of providing isotopically enriched samples and because the high intrinsic activity of the samples requires the use of neutron facilities with high instantaneous flux. The only two previous experimental data sets for this neutron capture cross section have been obtained in 1969 using a nuclear explosion and, more recently, at J-PARC in 2010. The neutron capture cross sections have been measured at n_TOF with the same samples that the previous experiments in J-PARC. The samples were measured at n_TOF Experimental Area 2 (EAR-2) with three C6D6 detectors and also in Experimental Area 1 (EAR-1) with the Total Absorption Calorimeter (TAC). Preliminary results assessing the quality and limitations of these new experimental datasets are presented for the experiments in both areas. Preliminary yields of both measurements will be compared with evaluated libraries for the first time.
233U is the fissile nuclei in the Th-U fuel cycle with a particularily small neutron capture cross setion which is on average about one order of magnitude lower than its fission cross section. Hence, the measurement of the 233U(n, γ) cross section relies on a method to accurately distinguish between capture and fission γ-rays. A measurement of the 233U α-ratio has been performed at the n_TOF facility at CERN using a so-called fission tagging setup, coupling n_TOF 's Total Absorption Calorimeter with a novel fission chamber to tag the fission γ-rays. The experimental setup is described and essential parts of the analysis are discussed. Finally, a preliminary 233U α-ratio is presented.
We have measured the capture cross section of the 155Gd and 157Gd isotopes between 0.025 eV and 1 keV. The capture events were recorded by an array of 4 C6D6 detectors, and the capture yield was deduced exploiting the total energy detection system in combination with the Pulse Height Weighting Techniques. Because of the large cross section around thermal neutron energy, 4 metallic samples of different thickness were used to prevent problems related to self-shielding. The samples were isotopically enriched, with a cross contamination of the other isotope of less than 1.14%. The capture yield was analyzed with an R-Matrix code to describe the cross section in terms of resonance parameters. Near thermal energies, the results are significantly different from evaluations and from previous time-of-flight experiments. The data from the present measurement at n_TOF are publicly available in the experimental nuclear reaction database EXFOR.
Feasibility, design and sensitivity studies on innovative nuclear reactors that could address the issue of nuclear waste transmutation using fuels enriched in minor actinides, require high accuracy cross section data for a variety of neutron-induced reactions from thermal energies to several tens of MeV. The isotope 241Am (T1/2= 433 years) is present in high-level nuclear waste (HLW), representing about 1.8 % of the actinide mass in spent PWR UOx fuel. Its importance increases with cooling time due to additional production from the β-decay of 241Pu with a half-life of 14.3 years. The production rate of 241 Am in conventional reactors, including its further accumulation through the decay of 241Pu and its destruction through transmutation/incineration are very important parameters for the design of any recycling solution. In the present work, the 241 Am(n,f) reaction cross-section was measured using Micromegas detectors at the Experimental Area 2 of the n_TOF facility at CERN. For the measurement, the 235U(n,f) and 238U(n,f) reference reactions were used for the determination of the neutron flux. In the present work an overview of the experimental setup and the adopted data analysis techniques is given along with preliminary results.
Measurement of the 244Cm and 246Cm neutron-induced capture cross sections at the n_TOF facility
(2019)
The neutron capture reactions of the 244Cm and 246Cm isotopes open the path for the formation of heavier Cm isotopes and heavier elements such as Bk and Cf in a nuclear reactor. In addition, both isotopes belong to the minor actinides with a large contribution to the decay heat and to the neutron emission in irradiated fuels. There are only two previous 244Cm and 246Cm capture cross section measurements: one in 1969 using a nuclear explosion [1] and the most recent data measured at J-PARC in 2010 [2]. The data for both isotopes are very scarce due to the difficulties in performing the measurements: high intrinsic activity of the samples and limited facilities capable of providing isotopically enriched samples.
We have measured both neutron capture cross sections at the n_TOF Experimental Area 2 (EAR-2) with three C6 D6 detectors and also at Area 1 (EAR-1) with the TAC. Preliminary results assessing the quality and limitations (back-ground subtraction, measurement technique and counting statistics) of this new experimental datasets are presented and discussed.
Study of the photon strength functions and level density in the gamma decay of the n + 234U reaction
(2019)
The accurate calculations of neutron-induced reaction cross sections are relevant for many nuclear applications. The photon strength functions and nuclear level densities are essential inputs for such calculations. These quantities for 235U are studied using the measurement of the gamma de-excitation cascades in radiative capture on 234U with the Total Absorption Calorimeter at n_TOF at CERN. This segmented 4π gamma calorimeter is designed to detect gamma rays emitted from the nucleus with high efficiency. This experiment provides information on gamma multiplicity and gamma spectra that can be compared with numerical simulations. The code DICEBOXC is used to simulate the gamma cascades while GEANT4 is used for the simulation of the interaction of these gammas with the TAC materials. Available models and their parameters are being tested using the present data. Some preliminary results of this ongoing study are presented and discussed.
233U is of key importance among the fissile nuclei in the Th-U fuel cycle. A particularity of 233U is its small neutron capture cross-section, which is on average about one order of magnitude lower than the fission cross-section. The accuracy in the measurement of the 233U capture cross-section depends crucially on an efficient capture-fission discrimination, thus a combined set-up of fission and γ-detectors is needed. A measurement of the 233U capture cross-section and capture-to-fission ratio was performed at the CERN n_TOF facility. The Total Absorption Calorimeter (TAC) of n_TOF was employed as γ-detector coupled with a novel compact ionization chamber as fission detector. A brief description of the experimental set-up will be given, and essential parts of the analysis procedure as well as the preliminary response of the set-up to capture are presented and discussed.
New neutron cross section measurements of minor actinides have been performed recently in order to reduce the uncertainties in the evaluated data, which is important for the design of advanced nuclear reactors and, in particular, for determining their performance in the transmutation of nuclear waste. We have measured the 241Am(n,γ) cross section at the n_TOF facility between 0.2 eV and 10 keV with a BaF2 Total Absorption Calorimeter, and the analysis of the measurement has been recently concluded. Our results are in reasonable agreement below 20 eV with the ones published by C. Lampoudis et al. in 2013, who reported a 22% larger capture cross section up to 110 eV compared to experimental and evaluated data published before. Our results also indicate that the 241Am(n,γ) cross section is underestimated in the present evaluated libraries between 20 eV and 2 keV by 25%, on average, and up to 35% for certain evaluations and energy ranges.
The (n, γ) cross sections of the gadolinium isotopes play an important role in the study of the stellar nucleosynthesis. In particular, among the isotopes heavier than Fe, 154Gd together with 152Gd have the peculiarity to be mainly produced by the slow capture process, the so-called s-process, since they are shielded against the β-decay chains from the r-process region by their stable samarium isobars. Such a quasi pure s-process origin makes them crucial for testing the robustness of stellar models in galactic chemical evolution (GCE). According to recent models, the 154Gd and 152Gd abundances are expected to be 15-20% lower than the reference un-branched s-process 150Sm isotope. The close correlation between stellar abundances and neutron capture cross sections prompted for an accurate measurement of 154Gd cross section in order to reduce the uncertainty attributable to nuclear physics input and eventually rule out one of the possible causes of present discrepancies between observation and model predictions. To this end, the neutron capture cross section of 154Gd was measured in a wide neutron energy range (from thermal up to some keV) with high resolution in the first experimental area of the neutron time-of-flight facility n_TOF (EAR1) at CERN. In this contribution, after a brief description of the motivation and of the experimental setup used in the measurement, the preliminary results of the 154Gd neutron capture reaction as well as their astrophysical implications are presented.