EXCITATION CURVES FOR THE REACTIONS Fe56(n, p)Mn56 AND Co59(n, α)Mn56

Abstract
Excitation curves for the reactions Fe56(n, p)Mn56 and Co59(n, α)Mn56 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 S32(n, p)P32 reaction. Cross sections for both reactions increase smoothly with neutron energy and reach maximum values of 119 ± 4 mb for the Fe56(n, p) reaction at 13.6 Mev and 30.0 ± 0.9 mb for the Co59(n, α) reaction at 14.5 Mev. Above 15 Mev both cross sections decrease with neutron energy. From the excitation curves effective cross-section values for a fission-neutron spectrum have been calculated as 1.04 ± 0.05 mb for the (n, p) reaction and 0.140 ± 0.007 mb for the (n, α) reaction.