Conceptual design of the early implementation of the NEutron Detector Array (NEDA) with AGATA

The NEutron Detector Array (NEDA) project aims at the construction of a new high-efficiency compact neutron detector array to be coupled with large (Formula presented.) -ray arrays such as AGATA. The application of NEDA ranges from its use as selective neutron multiplicity filter for fusion-evaporation reaction to a large solid angle neutron tagging device. In the present work, possible configurations for the NEDA coupled with the Neutron Wall for the early implementation with AGATA has been simulated, using Monte Carlo techniques, in order to evaluate their performance figures. The goal of this early NEDA implementation is to improve, with respect to previous instruments, efficiency and capability to select multiplicity for fusion-evaporation reaction channels in which 1, 2 or 3 neutrons are emitted. Each NEDA detector unit has the shape of a regular hexagonal prism with a volume of about 3.23l and it is filled with the EJ301 liquid scintillator, that presents good neutron- (Formula presented.) discrimination properties. The simulations have been performed using a fusion-evaporation event generator that has been validated with a set of experimental data obtained in the 58Ni + 56Fe reaction measured with the Neutron Wall detector array

The Oslo Cyclotron Laboratory

Research at the Oslo Cyclotron Laboratory at the University of Oslo is focused on spectroscopy experiments for nuclear structure and nuclear astrophysics using the Oslo Scintillator Array OSCAR. Light-ion beams from the K=35 cyclotron are furthermore used for studies in radiation biology and medical physics, for research and development related to medical isotope production, and for irradiation of materials and electronics components. Here we present an overview of the laboratory and its research infrastructure, give a brief discussion of the respective research programs and methods, and present recent highlights

The study of prompt fission γ rays at the Oslo Cyclotron Laboratory

The study of prompt fission γ rays (PFGs) is crucial for understanding the energy and angular momentum distribution in fission, and over the last decade there has been an revived interest in this aspect of fission. We present the new experimental setup at the Oslo Cyclotron Laboratory for detecting PFGs resulting from charged particle-induced fission. Additionally, PFGs from the reaction 240 Pu(d,pf) were measured in April 2018, and the fission gated proton- γ coincidence spectrum is shown. In order to explore the dependence of the PFG emission on the excitation energy and angular momentum of the compound nucleus, we plan several experiments where charged particle reactions are used to induce fission in various plutonium isotopes. The final results will be compared to predictions made by the Fission Reaction Event Yield Algorithm (FREYA) in an upcoming publication, to benchmark the current modelling of both the PFGs and the fission process

Strong enhancement of level densities in the crossover from spherical to deformed neodymium isotopes

Understanding the evolution of level densities in the crossover from spherical to well-deformed nuclei has been a long-standing problem in nuclear physics. We measure nuclear level densities for a chain of neodymium isotopes 142,144−151Nd which exhibit such a crossover. These results represent the most complete data set of nuclear level densities to date for an isotopic chain between neutron shell-closure and towards mid-shell. We observe a strong increase of the level densities along the chain with an overall increase by a factor of ≈150 at an excitation energy of 6 MeV and saturation around mass 150. Level densities calculated by the shell model Monte Carlo (SMMC) are in excellent agreement with these experimental results. Based on our experimental and theoretical findings, we offer an explanation of the observed mass dependence of the level densities in terms of the intrinsic single-particle level density and the collective enhancement

Evolution of the gamma-ray strength function in neodymium isotopes

The experimental γ-ray strength functions (γSFs) of 142,144–151Nd have been studied for γ-ray energies up to the neutron separation energy using the Oslo method. The results represent a unique set of γSFs for an isotopic chain with increasing nuclear deformation. The data reveal how the low-energy enhancement, the scissors mode, and the pygmy dipole resonance evolve with nuclear deformation and mass number. This indicates that the mechanisms behind the low-energy enhancement and the scissors mode are decoupled from each other

Isospin mixing in 80Zr: from finite to zero temperature

© 2015 American Physical Societ