The Measurement of Ti (n,p) Sc and Ni (n,p) Co Reaction Cross-sections in the Energy Range 3.5 MeV to 5.5 MeV

Abstract

The measurement of neutron cross-sections for ^46,47 Ti (n,p) ^{46, 47} Sc, ⁵⁸ Ni (n,p) ⁵⁸Co and ²⁹Si(n,α) ²⁶Mg reactions has been performed relative to the ²³⁸ U (n,f) cross-section in the neutron energy range of 3.5 MeV to 5.5 MeV.

The neutron source was a deuterium gas target, employing the D(d,n)³ He reaction. The neutron flux measurements were made with a low mass parallel-plate ionisation chamber, to detect the fission fragments from the ²³⁸U standard. The ²³⁸U content of the fission foil was determined using an alpha particle assaying technique. A surface barrier silicon detector was used for the on-line detection of charged particles from titanium and nickel foils. Initially, an inert gas scintillation detector was developed to avoid using a silicon detector, but the technique proved unsuccessful owing to the high gamma-radiation sensitivity of the scintillator.

A Monte Carlo program was applied to determine neutron beam profile from the gas target and to determine the irradiation geometry of sample and fission foil. The measured cross-section data show good agreement with some previously reported measurements and meet the accuracy requirements of recent data requests.

Date of Award	Mar 1983
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Aston University