Eur. Phys. J. A (2014) 50: 162
https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/i2014-14162-2

Regular Article - Experimental Physics

Measurement of ²³²Th(n,5n γ) cross sections from 29 MeV to 42 MeV

¹ IPHC, Université de Strasbourg, 23 rue du Loess, 67037, Strasbourg, France
² UMR7178, CNRS, 67037, Strasbourg, France
³ Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, 38116, Braunschweig, Germany
⁴ Atominstitut, Technische Universität Wien, 1020, Wien, Austria
⁵ Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences, P.O. Box 522, 11001, Belgrade, Serbia
⁶ Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group, P.O. Box 25, NL-1755, Petten, The Netherlands
⁷ Institut de Physique Nucléaire, 1348, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
⁸ Département de physique, Faculté Poly-disciplinaire de Safi, Université Cadi Ayyad, 46000, Safi, Morocco
⁹ University of Vienna, Faculty of Physics, 1090, Wien, Austria

^* e-mail: maelle.kerveno@iphc.cnrs.fr

Received: 9 July 2014
Accepted: 10 October 2014
Published online: 29 October 2014

Abstract

The excitation function of the reaction ²³² Th(n, 5nγ)²²⁸ Th from 29 to 42 MeV has been measured for the first time at the quasi-monoenergetic neutron beam of the UCL cyclotron CYCLONE employing the ⁷Li(p,n) source reaction. Taking advantage of the good energy resolution of the planar High-Purity Germanium (HPGe) detectors, prompt γ-ray spectroscopy was used to detect the γ-rays resulting from the decay of excited states of nuclei created by the (n,xn) reactions. The neutron beam was characterized by a combination of time of flight measurements carried out using a liquid scintillation detector and a ²³⁸U fission ionization chamber. Fluence measurements were performed using a proton recoil telescope. The results are compared with TALYS-1.4 code calculations.