https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/s10050-024-01404-5
Regular Article - Experimental Physics
Production and measurement of a stellar neutron spectrum at 30 keV
1
Dpto. Física Atómica, Molecular y Nuclear, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
2
Dpto. Física Atómica, Molecular y Nuclear, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain
3
Centro Nacional de Aceleradores (Universidad de Sevilla, Junta de Andalucía, CSIC), Seville, Spain
4
Centro de Aplicaciones Tecnológicas y Desarrollo Nuclear, 5ta y 30, Playa, La Habana, Cuba
Received:
4
March
2024
Accepted:
19
August
2024
Published online:
6
October
2024
A few years ago, we theoretically studied the production of a stellar neutron spectrum at kT = 30 keV using a shaped proton beam impinging on a thick lithium target. Here, we first measure the proton distribution to better control the produced neutron spectrum. Then, we measure the forward-emitted angle-integrated neutron spectrum of the 7Li(p,n)7Be reaction via time-of-flight neutron spectrometry with such proton distribution. The result resembles a stellar neutron spectrum at kT = 30 keV. This method avoids in activation experiments the need for spectrum correction. In the case of spherical samples, no knowledge of the cross-section of the isotope being measured by activation would be necessary. Therefore, the present method is of interest for isotopes with unknown or poorly known cross-sections, such as branching points in astrophysics. The key point of our method is the experimental control of the proton distribution that impinges on the lithium target.
© The Author(s) 2024
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