Measurement of the neutron-induced fission cross section of Th 230 at the CERN n_TOF facility

© 2023 authors. Published by the American Physical Society. Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/The neutron-induced fission cross section of Th230 has been measured at the neutron time-of-flight facility n_TOF located at CERN. The experiment was performed at the experimental area EAR-1 with a neutron flight path of 185 m, using Micromegas detectors for the detection of the fission fragments. The Th230(n,f) cross section was determined relative to the U235(n,f) one, covering the energy range from the fission threshold up to 400 MeV. The results from the present work are compared with existing cross-section datasets and the observed discrepancies are discussed and analyzed. Finally, using the code empire 3.2.3 a theoretical study, based on the statistical model, was performed leading to a satisfactory reproduction of the experimental results with the proper tuning of the respective parameters, while for incident neutron energy beyond 200 MeV the fission of Th230 was described by Monte Carlo simulations.Peer reviewe

Measurement of the Se 77 (n,γ) cross section up to 200 keV at the n_TOF facility at CERN

© 2023 authors. Published by the American Physical Society. Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/The Se77(n,γ) reaction is of importance for Se77 abundance during the slow neutron capture process in massive stars. We have performed a new measurement of the Se77 radiative neutron capture cross section at the Neutron Time-of-Flight facility at CERN. Resonance capture kernels were derived up to 51 keV and cross sections up to 200 keV. Maxwellian-averaged cross sections were calculated for stellar temperatures between kT=5keV and kT=100keV, with uncertainties between 4.2% and 5.7%. Our results lead to substantial decreases of 14% and 19% in Se77 abundances produced through the slow neutron capture process in selected stellar models of 15M⊙ and 2M⊙, respectively, compared to using previous recommendation of the cross section.Peer reviewe

Measurement of the N 14 (n,p) C 14 cross section at the CERN n_TOF facility from subthermal energy to 800 keV

© 2023 authors. Published by the American Physical Society. Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Background: The N14(n,p)C14 reaction is of interest in neutron capture therapy, where nitrogen-related dose is the main component due to low-energy neutrons, and in astrophysics, where N14 acts as a neutron poison in the s process. Several discrepancies remain between the existing data obtained in partial energy ranges: thermal energy, keV region, and resonance region.Purpose: We aim to measure the N14(n,p)C14 cross section from thermal to the resonance region in a single measurement for the first time, including characterization of the first resonances, and provide calculations of Maxwellian averaged cross sections (MACS). Method: We apply the time-of-flight technique at Experimental Area 2 (EAR-2) of the neutron time-of-flight (n_TOF) facility at CERN. B10(n,α)Li7 and U235(n,f) reactions are used as references. Two detection systems are run simultaneously, one on beam and another off beam. Resonances are described with the R-matrix code sammy.Results: The cross section was measured from subthermal energy to 800 keV, resolving the first two resonances (at 492.7 and 644 keV). A thermal cross section was obtained (1.809±0.045 b) that is lower than the two most recent measurements by slightly more than one standard deviation, but in line with the ENDF/B-VIII.0 and JEFF-3.3 evaluations. A 1/v energy dependence of the cross section was confirmed up to tens of keV neutron energy. The low energy tail of the first resonance at 492.7 keV is lower than suggested by evaluated values, while the overall resonance strength agrees with evaluations. Conclusions: Our measurement has allowed determination of the N14(n,p) cross section over a wide energy range for the first time. We have obtained cross sections with high accuracy (2.5%) from subthermal energy to 800 keV and used these data to calculate the MACS for kT=5 to kT=100 keV.Peer reviewe

Measurement of the Ce 140 (n,γ) Cross Section at n_TOF and Its Astrophysical Implications for the Chemical Evolution of the Universe

© 2024 The Author(s). Published by the American Physical Society. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Ce140(n,γ) is a key reaction for slow neutron-capture (s-process) nucleosynthesis due to being a bottleneck in the reaction flow. For this reason, it was measured with high accuracy (uncertainty ≈5%) at the n_TOF facility, with an unprecedented combination of a high purity sample and low neutron-sensitivity detectors. The measured Maxwellian averaged cross section is up to 40% higher than previously accepted values. Stellar model calculations indicate a reduction around 20% of the s-process contribution to the Galactic cerium abundance and smaller sizeable differences for most of the heavier elements. No variations are found in the nucleosynthesis from massive stars.Peer reviewe

Shedding Light on the Origin of ^{204}Pb, the Heaviest s-Process-Only Isotope in the Solar System

© 2024 The Author(s). Published by the American Physical Society. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Asymptotic giant branch stars are responsible for the production of most of the heavy isotopes beyond Sr observed in the solar system. Among them, isotopes shielded from the r-process contribution by their stable isobars are defined as s-only nuclei. For a long time the abundance of ^{204}Pb, the heaviest s-only isotope, has been a topic of debate because state-of-the-art stellar models appeared to systematically underestimate its solar abundance. Besides the impact of uncertainties from stellar models and galactic chemical evolution simulations, this discrepancy was further obscured by rather divergent theoretical estimates for the neutron capture cross section of its radioactive precursor in the neutron-capture flow, ^{204}Tl (t_{1/2}=3.78  yr), and by the lack of experimental data on this reaction. We present the first ever neutron capture measurement on ^{204}Tl, conducted at the CERN neutron time-of-flight facility n_TOF, employing a sample of only 9 mg of ^{204}Tl produced at the Institute Laue Langevin high flux reactor. By complementing our new results with semiempirical calculations we obtained, at the s-process temperatures of kT≈8  keV and kT≈30  keV, Maxwellian-averaged cross sections (MACS) of 580(168) mb and 260(90) mb, respectively. These figures are about 3% lower and 20% higher than the corresponding values widely used in astrophysical calculations, which were based only on theoretical calculations. By using the new ^{204}Tl MACS, the uncertainty arising from the ^{204}Tl(n,γ) cross section on the s-process abundance of ^{204}Pb has been reduced from ∼30% down to +8%/-6%, and the s-process calculations are in agreement with the latest solar system abundance of ^{204}Pb reported by K. Lodders in 2021.Peer reviewe

A Segmented Total Energy Detector (sTED) optimized for (n, γ) cross-section measurements at n_TOF EAR2

The neutron time-of-flight facility n_TOF at CERN is a spallation source dedicated to measurements of neutroninduced reaction cross-sections of interest in nuclear technologies, astrophysics, and other applications. Since 2014, Experimental ARea 2 (EAR2) is operational and delivers a neutron fluence of ∼ 4 ⋅ 107 neutrons per nominal proton pulse, which is ∼50 times higher than the one of Experimental ARea 1 (EAR1) of ∼ 8 ⋅ 105 neutrons per pulse. The high neutron flux at EAR2 results in high counting rates in the detectors that challenged the previously existing capture detection systems. For this reason, a Segmented Total Energy Detector (sTED) has been developed to overcome the limitations in the detector’s response, by reducing the active volume per module and by using a photo-multiplier (PMT) optimized for high counting rates. This paper presents the main characteristics of the sTED, including energy and time resolution, response to γ-rays, and provides as well details of the use of the Pulse Height Weighting Technique (PHWT) with this detector. The sTED has been validated to perform neutron-capture cross-section measurements in EAR2 in the neutron energy range from thermal up to at least 400 keV. The detector has already been successfully used in several measurements at n_TOF EAR2.I+D+i grant PGC2018- 096717-B-C21 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, by the European Commission H2020 Framework Programme project SANDA (Grant agreement ID: 847552)Funding agencies of the n_TOF participating institution

Overview of the dissemination of n_TOF experimental data and resonance parameters

The n_TOF neutron time-of-flight facility at CERN is used for nuclear data measurements. The n_TOF Collaboration works closely with the Nuclear Reaction Data Centres (NRDC) network to disseminate the experimental data through the international EXFOR library. In addition, the Collaboration helps integrate the results in the evaluated library projects. The present contribution describes the dissemination status of n_TOF results, their impact on evaluated libraries and ongoing efforts to provide n_TOF resonance parameters in ENDF-6 format for further use by evaluation projects

Measurement of the 160Gd(n, γ) cross section at n_TOF and its medical implications

Neutron-capture reactions on gadolinium isotopes play an important role in several fields of physics, in particular in nuclear Astrophysics for the understanding of the nucleosynthesis of heavy elements (beyond iron) in stars via the s- and r-processes [1] and in nuclear technology. Another important application of gadolinium is linked to the production of terbium, that offers a set of clinically interesting isotopes for theranostics, characterized by complementary physical decay characteristics. In particular, the low -energy beta(-) emitter terbium-161 is very similar to lutetium-177 in terms of half-life (6.89 d), beta(-) - energy and chemical properties. Being a significant emitter of conversion/Auger electrons, greater therapeutic effect can therefore be expected in comparison to Lu-177 [2, 3]. For this reason, in the last decade, the study of the neutron capture reaction Gd-160(n,,gamma)(161) Gd and the subsequent beta(-) - decay in terbium-161 is getting particular attention. As the nuclear data on the Gd-160 neutron capture reaction are quite scarce and inconsistent, a new measurement of the capture cross section of Gd-160 at the CERN neutron Time -Of-Flight facilty was performed in order to provide high resolution, high -accuracy data on this important reaction, in the energy range from thermal to hundreds of keV. In this contribution, the preliminary results of the n_TOF measurement are presented

Measurement of the 235U(n,f) cross section relative to the 10B(n,α) reaction with Micromegas detectors at the CERN n_TOF facility: first results

Funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme SANDA (Supplying Accurate Nuclear Data for energy and non-energy Applications) under grant agreement no 847552, is gratefully acknowledged.Neutron cross section measurements are often made relative to a neutron cross section standard. Thus, the accuracy of the neutron standards determines the best possible accuracy of the neutron measurements. The U-235(n,f) cross section is widely used as reference, while it is considered a standard at thermal point and between 0.15 to 200 MeV. For this reason, additional cross section data for the U-235(n,f) reaction are useful in order to improve the accuracy and to extend the energy range of the standard. In this work, preliminary results of the measurement of the 235U(n,f) cross-section relative to the standard (10) B(n,a) reaction are presented. The high accuracy measurement was performed at the experimental area EAR-1 of the n_TOF facility at CERN, aiming at covering the energy range from the thermal region up to approximately 100 keV. The samples were produced at JRC-Geel in Belgium, while the experimental setup was based on Micromegas detectors.European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme SANDA 84755

New perspectives for neutron capture measurements in the upgraded CERN-n_TOF Facility

This work has been carried out in the framework of a project funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union ' s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (ERC Consolidator Grant project HYMNS, with grant agreement No. 681740). This work was supported by grant FJC2020-044688-I funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR. The authors acknowledge support from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion under grants PID2019-104714GB-C21, FPA2017-83946-C2-1-P, FIS2015-71688-ERC, CSIC for funding PIE-201750I26.The n_TOF facility has just undergone in 2021 a major upgrade with the installation of its third generation spallation target that has been designed to optimize the performance of the two n_TOF time-of-flight lines. This contribution describes the key features and limitations for capture measurements in the two beam lines prior to the target upgrade and presents first results of (n,gamma) measurements carried out as part of the commissioning of the upgraded facility. In particular, the energy resolution, a key factor for both increasing the signal-to background ratio and obtaining accurate resonance parameters, has been clearly improved for the 20 m long vertical beam-line with the new target design while keeping the remarkably high resolution of the long beamline n_TOF-EAR1. The improvements in the n_TOF neutron beam-lines need to be accompanied by improvements in the instrumentation. A review is given on recent detector R&D projects aimed at tackling the existing challenges and further improving the capabilities of this facility.European Research Council (ERC)European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme HYMNS 681740MCIN/AEI FJC2020-044688-IEuropean Union (EU)Instituto de Salud Carlos III Spanish Government PID2019-104714GB-C21, FPA2017-83946-C2-1-P, FIS2015-71688-ERCCSIC PIE-201750I2