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

Abstract

The excitation function of the reaction (232) Th(n, 5n gamma)(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 Li-7(p,n) source reaction. Taking advantage of the good energy resolution of the planar High-Purity Germanium (HPGe) detectors, prompt gamma-ray spectroscopy was used to detect the gamma-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 U-238 fission ionization chamber. Fluence measurements were performed using a proton recoil telescope. The results are compared with TALYS-1.4 code calculations.