Cross Section Measurements of (n,x) Reactions at 17.9 and 18.9 MeV Using Highly Enriched Ge Isotopes

¹ Department of Physics, National Technical University of Athens, 157 80 Athens, Greece
² Tandem Accelerator Laboratory, Institute of Nuclear and Particle Physics, NCSR Demokritos, 153 10 Aghia Paraskevi, Greece
³ Institute of Nuclear and Radiological Sciences, Energy, Technology & Safety, NCSR Demokritos
⁴ School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom

^* Corresponding author: sotirischasapoglou@mail.ntua.gr

Published online: 26 May 2023

Abstract

Nine neutron induced reactions on Ge isotopes (⁷⁰Ge(n,2n)⁶⁹Ge, ⁷⁶Ge(n,2n)⁷⁵Ge, ⁷³Ge(n,p)⁷³Ga, ⁷²Ge(n,p)⁷²Ga, ⁷³Ge(n,d/np)⁷²Ga, ⁷⁴Ge(n,d/np)⁷³Ga, ⁷⁴Ge(n,α)^71mZn, ⁷²Ge(n,α)^69mZn, ⁷³Ge(n,nα)^69mZn) have been measured in this work at energies 16.4-18.9 MeV. For these reactions, most of the experimental datasets in literature were obtained with a ^natGe target. However, the residual nucleus produced by some reaction channels can also be produced from neighboring isotopes, acting as a contamination for the measured reactions. This contribution must be subtracted, based on theoretical calculations, bearing their own uncertainties. The use of enriched targets however, does not suffer from such contaminations, leading to accurate experimental results. In this scope, five highly isotopically enriched Ge samples have been used in this work. The quasi-monoenergetic neutron beams were produced via the ³H(d,n)⁴He reaction at the 5.5 MV Tandem Van de Graaff accelerator of N.C.S.R. ‘Demokritos’. The cross section of these nine reactions were measured using the activation method, with respect to the ²⁷Al(n,α)²⁴Na reference reaction.