Briz, J. A., Nacher, E., Borge, M. J. G., Algora, A., Rubio, B., Dessagne, P., et al. (2015). Shape study of the N = Z nucleus Kr-72 via beta decay. Phys. Rev. C, 92(5), 054326–10pp.
Abstract: The beta decay of the N = Z nucleus Kr-72 has been studied with the total absorption spectroscopy technique at ISOLDE (CERN). A total B(GT) = 0.79(4)g(A)(2)/4 pi has been found up to an excitation energy of 2.7 MeV. The B(GT) distribution obtained is compared with predictions from state-of-the-art theoretical calculations to learn about the ground state deformation of Kr-72. Although a dominant oblate deformation is suggested by direct comparison with quasiparticle random phase approximation (QRPA) calculations, beyond-mean-field and shell-model calculations favor a large oblate-prolate mixing in the ground state.
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n_TOF Collaboration(Mendoza, E. et al), Giubrone, G., Tain, J. L., & Tarifeño-Saldivia, A. (2018). Measurement and analysis of the Am-241 neutron capture cross section at the n_TOF facility at CERN. Phys. Rev. C, 97(5), 054616–21pp.
Abstract: The Am-241(n, gamma) cross section has been measured at the nTOF facility at CERN with the nTOF BaF2 Total Absorption Calorimeter in the energy range between 0.2 eV and 10 keV. Our results are analyzed as resolved resonances up to 700 eV, allowing a more detailed description of the cross section than in the current evaluations, which contain resolved resonances only up to 150-160 eV. The cross section in the unresolved resonance region is perfectly consistent with the predictions based on the average resonance parameters deduced from the resolved resonances, thus obtaining a consistent description of the cross section in the full neutron energy range under study. Below 20 eV, our results are in reasonable agreement with JEFF-3.2 as well as with the most recent direct measurements of the resonance integral, and differ up to 20-30% with other experimental data. Between 20 eV and 1 keV, the disagreement with other experimental data and evaluations gradually decreases, in general, with the neutron energy. Above 1 keV, we find compatible results with previously existing values.
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Casanovas-Hoste, A. et al, Domingo-Pardo, C., Lerendegui-Marco, J., Tarifeño-Saldivia, A., & Tain, J. L. (2024). Shedding Light on the Origin of Pb-204, the Heaviest s-Process-Only Isotope in the Solar System. Phys. Rev. Lett., 133(5), 052702–8pp.
Abstract: Asymptotic giant branch stars are responsible for the production of most of the heavy isotopes beyond Sr observed in the solar system. Among them, isotopes shielded from the r-process contribution by their stable isobars are defined as s-only nuclei. For a long time the abundance of (204) Pb, the heaviest s-only isotope, has been a topic of debate because state-of-the-art stellar models appeared to systematically underestimate its solar abundance. Besides the impact of uncertainties from stellar models and galactic chemical evolution simulations, this discrepancy was further obscured by rather divergent theoretical estimates for the neutron capture cross section of its radioactive precursor in the neutron-capture flow, 204 Tl ( t( 1/2)=2 1 / 4 3.78 . 78 yr), and by the lack of experimental data on this reaction. We present the first ever neutron capture measurement on (204) Tl, conducted at the CERN neutron time-of-flight facility n_TOF, employing a sample of only 9 mg of 204 Tl produced at the Institute Laue Langevin high flux reactor. By complementing our new results with semiempirical calculations we obtained, at the s-process temperatures of kT approximate to 8 keV and kT approximate to 30 keV, Maxwellian-averaged cross sections (MACS) of 580(168) mb and 260(90) mb, respectively. These figures are about 3% lower and 20% higher than the corresponding values widely used in astrophysical calculations, which were based only on theoretical calculations. By using the new Tl-204 MACS, the uncertainty arising from the( 204) Tl ( n ; gamma) cross section on the s-process abundance of Pb-204 has been reduced from similar to 30% down to & thorn;8%= = – 6% , and the s-process calculations are in agreement with the latest solar system abundance of Pb-204 reported by K. Lodders in 2021.
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n_TOF Collaboration(Tarrio D. et al.), Domingo-Pardo, C., & Tain, J. L. (2011). Neutron-induced fission cross section of Pb-nat and Bi-209 from threshold to 1 GeV: An improved parametrization. Phys. Rev. C, 83(4), 044620–9pp.
Abstract: Neutron-induced fission cross sections for Pb-nat and Bi-209 were measured with a white-spectrum neutron source at the CERN Neutron Time-of-Flight (n_TOF) facility. The experiment, using neutrons from threshold up to 1 GeV, provides the first results for these nuclei above 200 MeV. The cross sections were measured relative to U-235 and U-238 in a dedicated fission chamber with parallel plate avalanche counter detectors. Results are compared with previous experimental data. Upgraded parametrizations of the cross sections are presented, from threshold energy up to 1 GeV. The proposed new sets of fitting parameters improve former results along the whole energy range.
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n_TOF Collaboration(Massimi, C. et al), Domingo-Pardo, C., & Tain, J. L. (2010). Au-197(n,gamma) cross section in the resonance region. Phys. Rev. C, 81(4), 044616–22pp.
Abstract: The (n,gamma) cross section of Au-197 has been measured at nTOF in the resolved resonance region, up to 5 keV, with the aim of improving the accuracy in an energy range where it is not yet considered standard. The measurements were performed with two different experimental setup and detection techniques, the total energy method based on C6D6 detectors, and the total absorption calorimetry based on a 4 pi BaF2 array. By comparing the data collected with the two techniques, two accurate sets of neutron-capture yields have been obtained, which could be the basis for a new evaluation leading to an extended cross-section standard. Overall good agreement is found between the n_TOF results and evaluated cross sections, with some significant exceptions for small resonances. A few resonances not included in the existing databases have also been observed.
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n_TOF Collaboration(Sarmento, R. et al), Domingo-Pardo, C., & Tain, J. L. (2011). Measurement of the (236)U(n, f) cross section from 170 meV to 2 MeV at the CERN n_TOF facility. Phys. Rev. C, 84(4), 044618–10pp.
Abstract: The neutron-induced fission cross section of (236)U was measured at the neutron Time-of-Flight (nTOF) facility at CERN relative to the standard (235)U(n, f) cross section for neutron energies ranging from above thermal to several MeV. The measurement, covering the full range simultaneously, was performed with a fast ionization chamber, taking advantage of the high resolution of the nTOF spectrometer. The n_TOF results confirm that the first resonance at 5.45 eV is largely overestimated in some nuclear data libraries. The resonance triplet around 1.2 keV was measured with high resolution and resonance parameters were determined with good accuracy. Resonances at high energy have also been observed and characterized and different values for the cross section are provided for the region between 10 keV and the fission threshold. The present work indicates various shortcomings of the current nuclear data libraries in the subthreshold region and provides the basis for an accurate re-evaluation of the (236)U(n, f) cross section, which is of great relevance for the development of emerging or innovative nuclear reactor technologies.
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n_TOF Collaboration(Guerrero, C. et al), Domingo-Pardo, C., & Tain, J. L. (2012). Measurement and resonance analysis of the Np-237 neutron capture cross section. Phys. Rev. C, 85(4), 044616–15pp.
Abstract: The neutron capture cross section of Np-237 was measured between 0.7 and 500 eV at the CERN n_TOF facility using the 4 pi BaF2 Total Absorption Calorimeter. The experimental capture yield was extracted minimizing all the systematic uncertainties and was analyzed together with the most reliable transmission data available using the SAMMY code. The result is a complete set of individual as well as average resonance parameters [D-0 = 0.56(2) eV, <Gamma(gamma)> = 40.9(18) meV, 10(4)S(0) = 0.98(6), R' = 9.8(6) fm]. The capture cross section obtained in this work is in overall agreement with the evaluations and the data of Weston and Todd [Nucl. Sci. Eng. 79, 184 (1981)], thus showing sizable differences with respect to previous data from Scherbakov et al. [J. Nucl. Sci. Technol. 42, 135 (2005)] and large discrepancies with data Kobayashi et al. [J. Nucl. Sci. Technol. 39, 111 (2002)]. The results indicate that a new evaluation combining the present capture data with reliable transmission data would allow reaching an accuracy better than 4%, in line with the uncertainty requirements of the nuclear data community for the design and operation of current and future nuclear devices.
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n_TOF Collaboration(Massimi, C. et al), Domingo-Pardo, C., & Tain, J. L. (2012). Resonance neutron-capture cross sections of stable magnesium isotopes and their astrophysical implications. Phys. Rev. C, 85(4), 044615–15pp.
Abstract: We have measured the neutron capture cross sections of the stable magnesium isotopes Mg-24,Mg-25,Mg-26 in the energy range of interest to the s process using the neutron time-of-flight facility n_TOF at CERN. Capture events from a natural metal sample and from samples enriched in Mg-25 and Mg-26 were recorded using the total energy method based on (C6H6)-H-2 detectors. Neutron resonance parameters were extracted by a simultaneous resonance shape analysis of the present capture data and existing transmission data on a natural isotopic sample. Maxwellian-averaged capture cross sections for the three isotopes were calculated up to thermal energies of 100 keV and their impact on s-process analyses was investigated. At 30 keV the new values of the stellar cross section for Mg-24, Mg-25, and Mg-26 are 3.8 +/- 0.2 mb, 4.1 +/- 0.6 mb, and 0.14 +/- 0.01 mb, respectively.
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Jordan, D. et al, Algora, A., Tain, J. L., Rubio, B., Agramunt, J., Perez-Cerdan, A. B., et al. (2013). Total absorption study of the beta decay of Tc-102,Tc-104,Tc-105. Phys. Rev. C, 87(4), 044318–14pp.
Abstract: The beta-feeding probabilities for three important contributors to the decay heat in nuclear reactors, namely Tc-102,Tc-104,Tc-105, have been measured using the total absorption spectroscopy technique. For the measurements, sources of very high isobaric purity have been obtained using a Penning trap (JYFLTRAP). A detailed description of the data analysis is given and the results are compared with high-resolution measurements and theoretical calculations. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevC.87.044318
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n_TOF Collaboration(Fraval, K. et al), Domingo-Pardo, C., Giubrone, G., & Tain, J. L. (2014). Measurement and analysis of the Am-241(n,gamma) cross section with liquid scintillator detectors using time-of-flight spectroscopy at the n_TOF facility at CERN. Phys. Rev. C, 89(4), 044609–14pp.
Abstract: The Am-241(n,gamma) cross section has been measured at the n_TOF facility at CERN using deuterated benzene liquid scintillators, commonly known as C6D6 detectors, and time-of-flight spectrometry. The results in the resolved resonance range bring new constraints to evaluations below 150 eV, and the energy upper limit was extended from 150 to 320 eV with a total of 172 new resonances not present in current evaluations. The thermal capture cross section was found to be sigma(th) = 678 +/- 68 b, which is in good agreement with evaluations and most previous measurements. The capture cross section in the unresolved resonance region was extracted in the remaining energy range up to 150 keV, and found to be larger than current evaluations and previous measurements.
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