Cross sections for the ⁵⁴Fe(n, n′) ⁵⁴Fe and ⁵⁴Fe(n, p′) ⁵⁴Mn reactions deduced from the detection of de-excitation γ rays

¹ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, 40506-0055, USA
² Department of Physics, University of Dallas, Irving, Texas, 75062-4736, USA
³ Department of Chemistry, University of Dallas, Irving, Texas, 75062-4736, USA
⁴ Department of Physics, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland, 21402-1300, USA
⁵ Department of Chemistry, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, 40506-0055, USA

^* e-mail: hicks@udallas.edu

Published online: 25 June 2025

Abstract

γ-ray production cross sections have been deduced for reactions with incident neutrons having energies from 1.5 - 4.7 MeV. Similar measurements were made on a natural Ti sample to establish an absolute normalization. The resulting γ-ray production cross sections are compared to TENDL and TALYS calculations, as well as data from previous measurements. The models are found to describe the production cross sections for most γ rays observed from ⁵⁴Mn and ⁵⁴Fe rather well.