Present status and future programs of the n_TOF experiment

¹ European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Geneva, Switzerland
² Atominstitut, Technische Universität Wien, Austria
³ Uniwersytet Łódzki, Lodz, Poland
⁴ Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique/IN2P3 - IPN, Orsay, France
⁵ Horia Hulubei National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering - IFIN HH, Bucharest - Magurele, Romania
⁶ Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Bari, Italy
⁷ Centro de Investigaciones Energeticas Medioambientales y Technologicas (CIEMAT), Madrid, Spain
⁸ Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
⁹ Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique (CEA) Saclay - Irfu, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
¹⁰ University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, UK
¹¹ Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
¹² Instituto Tecnológico e Nuclear (ITN), Lisbon, Portugal
¹³ Universidad de Sevilla, Spain
¹⁴ National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Greece
¹⁵ Physik Department E12 and Excellence Cluster Universe, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany
¹⁶ GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, Darmstadt, Germany
¹⁷ Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Spain
¹⁸ Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro, Italy
¹⁹ Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
²⁰ Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai, India
²¹ Instituto de Fìsica Corpuscular, CSIC-Universidad de Valencia, Spain
²² University of York, Heslington, York, UK
²³ Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Campus Nord, Institut für Kernphysik, Karlsruhe, Germany
²⁴ University of Ioannina, Greece
²⁵ University of Vienna, Faculty of Physics, Austria
²⁶ Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Bologna, and Sezione INFN di Bologna, Italy
²⁷ Agenzia nazionale per le nuove tecnologie, l'energia e lo sviluppo economico sostenibile (ENEA), Bologna, Italy
²⁸ Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Trieste, Italy
²⁹ Department of Physics and Astronomy - University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
³⁰ Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso dell'INFN, Assergi (AQ), Italy

Abstract

The neutron time-of-flight facility n_TOF at CERN, Switzerland, operational since 2001, delivers neutrons using the Proton Synchrotron (PS) 20 GeV/c proton beam impinging on a lead spallation target. The facility combines a very high instantaneous neutron flux, an excellent time of flight resolution due to the distance between the experimental area and the production target (185 meters), a low intrinsic background and a wide range of neutron energies, from thermal to GeV neutrons. These characteristics provide a unique possibility to perform neutron-induced capture and fission cross-section measurements for applications in nuclear astrophysics and in nuclear reactor technology.

The most relevant measurements performed up to now and foreseen for the future will be presented in this contribution. The overall efficiency of the experimental program and the range of possible measurements achievable with the construction of a second experimental area (EAR-2), vertically located 20 m on top of the n_TOF spallation target, might offer a substantial improvement in measurement sensitivities. A feasibility study of the possible realisation of the installation extension will be also presented.