EXCITATION CURVES FOR THE REACTIONS Al27(n, α)Na24 AND Mg24(n, p)Na24

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Excitation curves for the reactions Al27(n, α)Na24 and Mg24(n, p)Na24 have been measured by the activation method from near threshold energies to 20.3 Mev. The measurements are relative to the known cross section for the reaction S32(n, p)P32. Monoenergetic neutrons were obtained from the D(d, n)He3, T(d, n)He4, and the T(p, n)He3 reactions employing a Tandem Van de Graaff accelerator or 125-kev accelerator. Cross sections for both reactions rise above the minimum detectable value of 0.02 mb near 5 Mev and reach maximum values of 126 mb for the Al(n, α)Na24 reaction and 205 mb for the Mg24(n, p)Na24 reaction at 13.5 Mev. Above this energy both cross sections decrease. From the excitation curves effective cross-section values for a fission-neutron spectrum have been calculated as 0.61 ± 0.03 mb for the (n, α) reaction and 1.34 ± 0.07 mb for the (n, p) reaction.