n_TOF Collaboration(Balibrea-Correa, J. et al), Domingo-Pardo, C., Giubrone, G., Tain, J. L., & Tarifeño-Saldivia, A. (2020). Measurement of the alpha ratio and (n, gamma) cross section of U-235 from 0.2 to 200 eV at n_TOF. Phys. Rev. C, 102(4), 044615–18pp.
Abstract: We measured the neutron capture-to-fission cross-section ratio (alpha ratio) and the capture cross section of U-235 between 0.2 and 200 eV at the nTOF facility at CERN. The simultaneous measurement of neutron-induced capture and fission rates was performed by means of the nTOF BaF2 Total Absorption Calorimeter (TAC), used for detection of gamma rays, in combination with a set of micromegas detectors used as fission tagging detectors. The energy dependence of the capture cross section was obtained with help of the Li-6(n, t) standard reaction determining the n_TOF neutron fluence; the well-known integral of the U-235(n, f) cross section between 7.8 and 11 eV was then used for its absolute normalization. The alpha ratio, obtained with slightly higher statistical fluctuations, was determined directly, without need for any reference cross section. To perform the analysis of this measurement we developed a new methodology to correct the experimentally observed effect that the probabilities of detecting a fission reaction in the TAC and the micromegas detectors are not independent. The results of this work have been used in a new evaluation of U-235 performed within the scope of the Collaborative International Evaluated Library Organisation (CIELO) Project, and are consistent with the ENDF/B-VIII.0 and JEFF-3.3 capture cross sections below 4 eV and above 100 eV. However, the measured capture cross section is on average 10% larger between 4 and 100 eV.
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n_TOF Collaboration(Damone, L. et al), Domingo-Pardo, C., Tain, J. L., & Tarifeño-Saldivia, A. (2018). Be-7 (n,p)Li-7 Reaction and the Cosmological Lithium Problem: Measurement of the Cross Section in a Wide Energy Range at n_TOF at CERN. Phys. Rev. Lett., 121(4), 042701–7pp.
Abstract: We report on the measurement of the Be-7(n,p)Li-7 cross section from thermal to approximately 325 keV neutron energy, performed in the high-flux experimental area (EAR2) of the n_TOF facility at CERN. This reaction plays a key role in the lithium yield of the big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) for standard cosmology. The only two previous time-of-flight measurements performed on this reaction did not cover the energy window of interest for BBN, and they showed a large discrepancy between each other. The measurement was performed with a Si telescope and a high-purity sample produced by implantation of a Be-7 ion beam at the ISOLDE facility at CERN. While a significantly higher cross section is found at low energy, relative to current evaluations, in the region of BBN interest, the present results are consistent with the values inferred from the time-reversal Li-7(p,n)Be-7 reaction, thus yielding only a relatively minor improvement on the so-called cosmological lithium problem. The relevance of these results on the near-threshold neutron production in the p + Li-7 reaction is also discussed.
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Phong, V. H. et al, Agramunt, J., Algora, A., Domingo-Pardo, C., Morales, A. I., Tain, J. L., et al. (2019). Observation of a μs isomer in In-134(49)85: Proton-neutron coupling “southeast” of Sn-132(50)82. Phys. Rev. C, 100(1), 011302–6pp.
Abstract: We report on the observation of a microsecond isomeric state in the single-proton-hole, three-neutron-particle nucleus In-134. The nuclei of interest were produced by in-flight fission of a U-238 beam at the Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory at RIKEN. The isomer depopulates through a gamma ray of energy 56.7(1) keV and with a half-life of T-1/2 = 3.5(4) μs. Based on the comparison with shell-model calculations, we interpret the isomer as the I-pi = 5(-) member of the pi 0g(9/2)(-1) circle times nu 1f(7/2)(3) multiplet, decaying to the I-pi = 7(-) ground state with a reduced-transition probability of B(E2; 5(-) -> 7(-)) = 0.53(6) W.u. Observation of this isomer, and lack of evidence in the current work for a I-pi = 5(-) isomer decay in In-132, provides a benchmark of the proton-neutron interaction in the region of the nuclear chart “southeast” of Sn-132, where experimental information on excited states is sparse.
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Orrigo, S. E. A., Tain, J. L., Mont-Geli, N., Tarifeño-Saldivia, A., Fraile, L. M., Grieger, M., et al. (2022). Long-term evolution of the neutron rate at the Canfranc Underground Laboratory. Eur. Phys. J. C, 82(9), 814–11pp.
Abstract: We report results on the long-term variation of the neutron counting rate at the Canfranc Underground Laboratory, of importance for several low-background experiments installed there, including rare-event searches. The measurement campaign was performed employing the High Efficiency Neutron Spectrometry Array (HENSA) mounted in Hall A and lasted 412 live days. The present study is the first long-term measurement of the neutron rate with sensitivity over a wide range of neutron energies (from thermal up to 0.1 GeV and beyond) performed in any underground laboratory so far. Data on the environmental variables inside the experimental hall (radon concentration, air temperature, air pressure and humidity) were also acquired during all the measurement campaign. We have investigated for the first time the evolution of the neutron rate for different energies of the neutrons and its correlation with the ambient variables.
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