Elastic Scattering of 5.6-Mev Neutrons from Carbon

Energetic neutrons produced from the $\mathrm{D}(d, n){\mathrm{He}}^3$ reaction have been scattered from a cylindrical carbon sample to study the angular distribution of elastically-scattered, 5.6-Mev neutrons. The differential elastic scattering cross sections for carbon have been obtained for angles in the range of 30 to 150 degrees. A thin plastic neutron-proton recoil detector was used in the measurements to permit discrimination against 4.4-Mev gamma rays from the carbon sample, and other gamma-ray backgrounds.