PT Journal
AU n_TOF Collaboration (Cosentino, Lea
   Domingo-Pardo, C
   Tain, JL
   Tarifeño-Saldivia, A
TI Experimental setup and procedure for the measurement of the Be-7(n,alpha)alpha reaction at n_TOF
SO Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research A
JI Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A
PY 2016
BP 197
EP 205
VL 830
DI 10.1016/j.nima.2016.05.089
LA English
DE Cosmological lithium problem; Big bang nucleosynthesis; Be-7(n; alpha)alpha reaction; n_TOF spallation neutron source
AB The newly built second experimental area EAR2 of then n_ToF spallation neutron source at CERN allows to perform (n, charged particles) experiments on short-lived highly radioactive targets. This paper describes a detection apparatus and the experimental procedure for the determination of the cross-section of the Be-7(n,alpha)alpha reaction, which represents one of the focal points toward the solution of the cosmological Lithium abundance problem, and whose only measurement, at thermal energy, dates back to 1963. The apparently unsurmountable experimental difficulties stemming from the huge Be-7 gamma-activity, along with the lack of a suitable neutron beam facility, had so far prevented further measurements. The detection system is subject to considerable radiation damage, but is capable of disentangling the rare reaction signals from the very high background. This newly developed setup could likely be useful also to study other challenging reactions requiring the detectors to be installed directly in the neutron beam.
ER