Neutron capture cross section and capture gamma-ray spectra of ¹³⁸Ba in the keV-neutron energy region

¹ Research Laboratory for Nuclear Reactors, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 152-8550, Japan
² Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 2-4 Shirakata Shirane, Tokai, Ibaraki 319-1195, Japan

^a e-mail: buchi@nr.titech.ac.jp

Published online: 28 May 2015

Abstract

The neutron capture cross sections and the capture γ-ray spectra of ¹³⁸Ba were measured in the astrophysically important energy region. Measurements were made at neutron energies from 15 to 80 keV. The neutron energy was determined by the time-of-flight method. The γ-ray spectra showed that the primary transition pattern strongly depended on the incident neutron energy. The neutron capture cross sections were derived by the pulse height weighting technique. The present cross section values were compared with evaluated cross section data and previous measurements.