https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/s10050-025-01753-9
Regular Article - Experimental Physics
Measurement and calculation of leakage neutron spectra from Pb induced by white spectrum neutrons
1
Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 730000, Lanzhou, China
2
School of Nuclear Science and Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049, Beijing, China
3
Gansu Isotope Laboratory, 730300, Lanzhou, China
4
Samarkand State University, 140104, Samarkand, Uzbekistan
Received:
23
June
2025
Accepted:
20
November
2025
Published online:
10
December
2025
Leakage neutron spectra from a natural Pb sample (with a thickness along the beam penetration direction of d = 100 or 200 mm) bombarded by white spectrum source neutrons were measured in the 0
direction using the time-of-flight method. The experiment was conducted at the Radioactive Ion Beam Line of the Heavy Ion Research Facility at the Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in Lanzhou. White spectrum source neutrons were generated by irradiating a 5 mm thick tungsten target with 80.5 MeV/u 
C ions. In addition, theoretical results for the leaked neutron spectrum of Pb were calculated using GEANT4 combined with the INCL, BIC, and BERT physics models, as well as the evaluated nuclear data libraries ENDF/B-VIII.0, JEFF
3.3, and JENDL4.0. The results demonstrate that the GEANT4 calculations reliably describe neutron transport processes in Pb targets under white spectrum neutron irradiation, although further refinement of the models remains necessary to enhance calculation precision.
Copyright comment Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2025
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
