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n_TOF Collaboration(Mastromarco, M. et al), Domingo-Pardo, C., & Tain, J. L. (2019). Cross section measurements of Gd-155,Gd-157(n,) induced by thermal and epithermal neutrons. Eur. Phys. J. A, 55(1), 9–20pp.
Abstract: Neutron capture cross section measurements on Gd-155 and Gd-157 were performed using the time-of-flight technique at the nTOF facility at CERN on isotopically enriched samples. The measurements were carried out in the nTOF experimental area EAR1, at 185 m from the neutron source, with an array of 4 C6D6 liquid scintillation detectors. At a neutron kinetic energy of 0.0253 eV, capture cross sections of 62.2(2.2) and 239.8(8.4) kilobarn have been derived for Gd-155 and Gd-157, respectively, with up to 6% deviation relative to values presently reported in nuclear data libraries, but consistent with those values within 1.6 standard deviations. A resonance shape analysis has been performed in the resolved resonance region up to 181 eV and 307 eV, respectively for Gd-155 and Gd-157, where on average, resonance parameters have been found in good agreement with evaluations. Above these energies and up to 1 keV, the observed resonance-like structure of the cross section has been analysed and characterised. From a statistical analysis of the observed neutron resonances we deduced: neutron strength function of 2.01(28)x10-4 and 2.17(41)x10-4; average total radiative width of 106.8(14) meV and 101.1(20) meV and s-wave resonance spacing 1.6(2) eV and 4.8(5) eV for n + Gd-155 and n + Gd-157 systems, respectively.
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n_TOF Collaboration(Zugec, P. et al), Domingo-Pardo, C., Giubrone, G., & Tain, J. L. (2016). Integral measurement of the C-12(n, p)B-12 reaction up to 10 GeV. Eur. Phys. J. A, 52(4), 101–13pp.
Abstract: The integral measurement of the C-12(n, p)B-12 reaction was performed at the neutron time-of-flight facility nTOF at CERN. The total number of B-12 nuclei produced per neutron pulse of the nTOF beam was determined using the activation technique in combination with a time-of-flight technique. The cross section is integrated over the n_TOF neutron energy spectrum from reaction threshold at 13.6 MeV to 10 GeV. Having been measured up to 1 GeV on basis of the U-235(n, f) reaction, the neutron energy spectrum above 200 MeV has been re-evaluated due to the recent extension of the cross section reference for this particular reaction, which is otherwise considered a standard up to 200 MeV. The results from the dedicated GEANT4 simulations have been used to evaluate the neutron flux from 1 GeV up to 10 GeV. The experimental results related to the C-12(n, p)B-12 reaction are compared with the evaluated cross sections from major libraries and with the predictions of different GEANT4 models, which mostly underestimate the B-12 production. On the contrary, a good reproduction of the integral cross section derived from measurements is obtained with TALYS-1.6 calculations, with optimized parameters.
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n_TOF Collaboration(Zugec, P. et al), Domingo-Pardo, C., Giubrone, G., & Tain, J. L. (2014). Measurement of the C-12(n, p)B-12 cross section at n_TOF at CERN by in-beam activation analysis. Phys. Rev. C, 90(2), 021601–5pp.
Abstract: The integral cross section of the C-12(n, p)B-12 reaction has been determined for the first time in the neutron energy range from threshold to several GeV at the n_TOF facility at CERN. The measurement relies on the activation technique with the beta decay of B-12 measured over a period of four half-lives within the same neutron bunch in which the reaction occurs. The results indicate that model predictions, used in a variety of applications, are mostly inadequate. The value of the integral cross section reported here can be used as a benchmark for verifying or tuning model calculations.
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n_TOF Collaboration(Lederer, C. et al.), Giubrone, G., & Tain, J. L. (2014). Ni-62(n,gamma) and Ni-63(n,gamma) cross sections measured at the n_TOF facility at CERN. Phys. Rev. C, 89(2), 025810–11pp.
Abstract: The cross section of the Ni-62(n,gamma) reaction was measured with the time-of-flight technique at the neutron time-of-flight facility nTOF at CERN. Capture kernels of 42 resonances were analyzed up to 200 keV neutron energy and Maxwellian averaged cross sections (MACS) from kT = 5-100 keV were calculated. With a total uncertainty of 4.5%, the stellar cross section is in excellent agreement with the the KADoNiS compilation at kT = 30 keV, while being systematically lower up to a factor of 1.6 at higher stellar temperatures. The cross section of the Ni-63(n,gamma) reaction was measured for the first time at nTOF. We determined unresolved cross sections from 10 to 270 keV with a systematic uncertainty of 17%. These results provide fundamental constraints on s-process production of heavier species, especially the production of Cu in massive stars, which serve as the dominant source of Cu in the solar system.
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AGATA Collaboration(Akkoyun, S. et al), Algora, A., Barrientos, D., Domingo-Pardo, C., Egea, F. J., Gadea, A., et al. (2012). AGATA-Advanced GAmma Tracking Array. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A, 668, 26–58.
Abstract: The Advanced GAmma Tracking Array (AGATA) is a European project to develop and operate the next generation gamma-ray spectrometer. AGATA is based on the technique of gamma-ray energy tracking in electrically segmented high-purity germanium crystals. This technique requires the accurate determination of the energy, time and position of every interaction as a gamma ray deposits its energy within the detector volume. Reconstruction of the full interaction path results in a detector with very high efficiency and excellent spectral response. The realisation of gamma-ray tracking and AGATA is a result of many technical advances. These include the development of encapsulated highly segmented germanium detectors assembled in a triple cluster detector cryostat, an electronics system with fast digital sampling and a data acquisition system to process the data at a high rate. The full characterisation of the crystals was measured and compared with detector-response simulations. This enabled pulse-shape analysis algorithms, to extract energy, time and position, to be employed. In addition, tracking algorithms for event reconstruction were developed. The first phase of AGATA is now complete and operational in its first physics campaign. In the future AGATA will be moved between laboratories in Europe and operated in a series of campaigns to take advantage of the different beams and facilities available to maximise its science output. The paper reviews all the achievements made in the AGATA project including all the necessary infrastructure to operate and support the spectrometer.
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Rasco, B. C., Brewer, N. T., Yokoyama, R., Grzywacz, R., Rykaczewski, K. P., Tolosa-Delgado, A., et al. (2018). The ORNL analysis technique for extracting beta-delayed multi-neutron branching ratios with BRIKEN. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A, 911, 79–86.
Abstract: Many choices are available in order to evaluate large radioactive decay networks. There are many parameters that influence the calculated beta-decay delayed single and multi-neutron emission branching fractions. We describe assumptions about the decay model, background, and other parameters and their influence on beta-decay delayed multi-neutron emission analysis. An analysis technique, the ORNL BRIKEN analysis procedure, for determining beta-delayed multi-neutron branching ratios in beta-neutron precursors produced by means of heavy-ion fragmentation is presented. The technique is based on estimating the initial activities of zero, one, and two neutrons occurring in coincidence with an ion-implant and beta trigger. The technique allows one to extract beta-delayed multi-neutron decay branching ratios measured with the He-3 BRIKEN neutron counter. As an example, two analyses of the beta-neutron emitter Cu-77 based on different a priori assumptions are presented along with comparisons to literature values.
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Guadilla, V. et al, Tain, J. L., Algora, A., Agramunt, J., Gelletly, W., Jordan, D., et al. (2018). Characterization and performance of the DTAS detector. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A, 910, 79–89.
Abstract: DTAS is a segmented total absorption y-ray spectrometer developed for the DESPEC experiment at FAIR. It is composed of up to eighteen NaI(Tl) crystals. In this work we study the performance of this detector with laboratory sources and also under real experimental conditions. We present a procedure to reconstruct offline the sum of the energy deposited in all the crystals of the spectrometer, which is complicated by the effect of NaI(Tl) light-yield non-proportionality. The use of a system to correct for time variations of the gain in individual detector modules, based on a light pulse generator, is demonstrated. We describe also an event-based method to evaluate the summing-pileup electronic distortion in segmented spectrometers. All of this allows a careful characterization of the detector with Monte Carlo simulations that is needed to calculate the response function for the analysis of total absorption gamma-ray spectroscopy data. Special attention was paid to the interaction of neutrons with the spectrometer, since they are a source of contamination in studies of beta-delayed neutron emitting nuclei.
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Caballero-Folch, R. et al, Agramunt, J., Tain, J. L., Algora, A., Domingo-Pardo, C., Guadilla, V., et al. (2018). First determination of beta-delayed multiple neutron emission beyond A=100 through direct neutron measurement: The P-2n value of Sb-136. Phys. Rev. C, 98(3), 034310–10pp.
Abstract: Background: beta-delayed multiple neutron emission has been observed for some nuclei with A <= 100 being the Rb-100 the heaviest beta 2n emitter measured to date. So far only 25 P-2n values have been determined for the approximate to 300 nuclei that may decay in this way. Accordingly it is of interest to measure P-2n values for the other possible multiple neutron emitters throughout the chart of the nuclides. It is of particular interest to make such a measurement for nuclei with A > 100 to test the predictions of theoretical models and simulation tools for the decays of heavy nuclei in the region of very neutron-rich nuclei. In addition the decay properties of these nuclei are fundamental for the understanding of astrophysical nucleosynthesis processes such as the r-process and safety inputs for nuclear reactors. Purpose: To determine for the first time the two-neutron branching ratio the P-2n value for Sb-136 through a direct neutron measurement and to provide precise P-1n values for Sb-136 and Te-136. Method: A pure beam of each isotope of interest was provided by the JYFLTRAP Penning trap at the Ion Guide Isotope Separator On-Line (IGISOL) facility of the University of Jyvaskyla Finland. The purified ions were implanted into a moving tape at the end of the beam line. The detection setup consisted of a plastic scintillator placed right behind the implantation point after the tape to register the beta decays and the BELEN detector based on neutron counters embedded in a polyethylene matrix. The analysis was based on the study of the beta- and neutron-growth-and-decay curves and the beta-one-neutron and beta-two-neutron time correlations which allowed us the determination of the neutron branching ratios. Results: The P-2n value of Sb-136 was found to be 0.14(3)% and the measured P-1n values for Sb-136 and Te-136 were found to be 32.2(15)% and 1.47(6)% respectively. Conclusions: The measured P-2n value is a factor 44 smaller than predicted by the finite-range droplet model plus the quasiparticle random-phase approximation (FRDM+QRPA) model used for r-process calculations.
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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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Olleros, P., Caballero, L., Domingo-Pardo, C., Babiano, V., Ladarescu, I., Calvo, D., et al. (2018). On the performance of large monolithic LaCl3(Ce) crystals coupled to pixelated silicon photosensors. J. Instrum., 13, P03014–17pp.
Abstract: We investigate the performance of large area radiation detectors, with high energy-and spatial-resolution, intended for the development of a Total Energy Detector with gamma-ray imaging capability, so-called i-TED. This new development aims for an enhancement in detection sensitivity in time-of-flight neutron capture measurements, versus the commonly used C6D6 liquid scintillation total-energy detectors. In this work, we study in detail the impact of the readout photosensor on the energy response of large area (50 x 50 mm(2)) monolithic LaCl3(Ce) crystals, in particular when replacing a conventional mono-cathode photomultiplier tube by an 8 x 8 pixelated silicon photomultiplier. Using the largest commercially available monolithic SiPM array (25 cm(2)), with a pixel size of 6 x 6 mm(2), we have measured an average energy resolution of 3.92% FWHM at 662 keV for crystal thick-nesses of 10, 20 and 30 mm. The results are confronted with detailed Monte Carlo (MC) calculations, where optical processes and properties have been included for the reliable tracking of the scintillation photons. After the experimental validation of the MC model, we use our MC code to explore the impact of a smaller photosensor segmentation on the energy resolution. Our optical MC simulations predict only a marginal deterioration of the spectroscopic performance for pixels of 3 x 3 mm(2).
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