https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/s10050-023-00984-y
Regular Article - Experimental Physics
Measurement of total and partial cross sections of the 
Zr(p,
)
Nb reaction with in-beam -ray spectroscopy
1
Goethe University Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue Str. 1, 60438, Frankfurt, Germany
2
GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, Planck Str. 1, 64291, Darmstadt, Germany
3
University Cologne, Zülpicher Straße 77, 50937, Cologne, Germany
4
Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
5
University of Notre Dame, 46556, Notre Dame, IN, USA
6
Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research in Europe GmbH, Planck Str. 1, 64291, Darmstadt, Germany
j
reifarth@physik.uni-frankfurt.de
Received:
16
November
2022
Accepted:
16
March
2023
Published online:
4
April
2023
The origin of many p-nuclei remains an unsolved problem in nuclear astrophysics. While photo-dissociation reactions in the -process can explain the production of many p-nuclei, some, notably 
Mo and 
Ru are underproduced in network calculations. The Zr(p,)Nb reaction is part of a possible (p,) reaction chain for the production of the p-nucleus 
Mo. Available data show a large disagreement between the different reported cross sections measurements for the Zr(p,)Nb reaction. We measured proton capture cross sections with an enriched Zr target using in-beam -ray spectroscopy for proton energies between 2.75 MeV and 5.1 MeV. The emitted -rays were detected using the HORUS (High efficiency Observatory for -Ray Unique Spectroscopy) detector array at the University of Cologne, Germany. To account for the possible contribution of the Zr(p,n) reaction, an enriched Zr was irradiated. We measured production cross sections for the ground and isomeric state of Nb as well as partial cross section for up to ten high-energy primary transitions. The results are in good agreement with a former in-beam -ray spectroscopy measurement by Laird et al.. We provide a possible explanation for the discrepancies between our data and other available measurements.
© The Author(s) 2023
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