Gold neutron-capture cross section from 3 to 550 keV

A careful remeasurement of the ${}_{}{}^{197}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Au}(n, \gamma )$ cross section using the pulse height weighting technique in small scintillators has been completed. The 4.9 eV resonance was used for calibration and the ${}_{}{}^6{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Li}(n, \alpha )$ cross section for flux shape. Estimated errors range from 1.4% near 30 keV to 3.3% at 550 keV. Individual resonance parameters were deduced in the 2.6-4.9 keV range and the fluctuations over 10's of resonances were analyzed below 90 keV. The fluctuations are larger than expected, limiting the precision attainable with monoenergetic sources using this standard. The fluctuation intensity appears to indicate intermediate resonance structure in the compound nucleus with ∼10 keV width and ∼40 keV spacing.