https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/s10050-025-01563-z
Review
Neutron capture measurements for s-process nucleosynthesis
A review about CERN n_TOF developments and contributions
1
Instituto de Física Corpuscular, CSIC, Universidad de Valencia, Valencia, Spain
2
European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Geneva, Switzerland
3
Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (CIEMAT), Madrid, Spain
4
University of Dallas, Irving, USA
5
Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
6
INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, Catania, Italy
7
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
8
University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
9
Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain
10
CEA Irfu, Université Paris-Saclay, 91191, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
11
Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresden, Germany
12
Horia Hulubei National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering, Măgurele, Romania
13
Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
14
University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago, Spain
15
Agenzia nazionale per le nuove tecnologie, l’energia e lo sviluppo economico sostenibile (ENEA), Brindisi, Italy
16
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
17
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste, Trieste, Italy
18
Department of Physics, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy
19
INFN Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, Frascati, Italy
20
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Torino, Turin, Italy
21
Department of Physics, University of Torino, Turin, Italy
22
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bari, Bari, Italy
23
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Perugia, Perugia, Italy
24
Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Osservatorio Astronomico d’Abruzzo, Abruzzo, Italy
25
National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece
26
Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Bundesallee 100, 38116, Braunschweig, Germany
27
University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece
28
University of York, York, UK
29
Affiliated with an Institute Covered by a Cooperation Agreement with CERN, Meyrin, Switzerland
30
University of Granada, Granada, Spain
31
University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland
32
TU Wien, Atominstitut, Stadionallee 2, 1020, Wien, Austria
33
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Roma 1, Rome, Italy
34
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Geel, Belgium
35
Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
36
School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
37
Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
38
INFN Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro, Legnaro, Italy
39
Dipartimento Interateneo di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Bari, Bari, Italy
40
Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI), Villigen, Switzerland
41
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Bari, Italy
42
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Catania, Catania, Italy
43
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Catania, Catania, Italy
44
Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon, Portugal
45
Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), Tokai-Mura, Naka, Japan
46
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, 75120, Uppsala, Sweden
Received:
31
January
2025
Accepted:
4
April
2025
Published online:
19
May
2025
This article presents a review about the main CERN n_TOF contributions to the field of neutron-capture experiments of interest for s-process nucleosynthesis studies over the last 25 years, with a special focus on the measurement of radioactive isotopes. A few recent capture experiments on stable isotopes of astrophysical interest are also discussed. Results on s-process branching nuclei are appropriate to illustrate how advances in detection systems and upgrades in the facility have enabled increasingly challenging experiments and, as a consequence, have led to a better understanding and modeling of the s-process mechanism of nucleosynthesis. New endeavors combining radioactive-ion beams from ISOLDE for the production of radioisotopically pure samples for activation experiments at the new NEAR facility at n_TOF are briefly discussed. On the basis of these new exciting results, also current limitations of state-of-the-art TOF and activation techniques will be depicted, thereby showing the pressing need for further upgrades and enhancements on both facilities and detection systems. A brief account of the potential technique based on inverse kinematics for direct neutron-capture measurements is also presented.
© The Author(s) 2025
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