A study of the neutron induced reactions for 19F, 56Fe and 59Co in the energy interval 16 to 22 MeV

Abstract

Abstract Cross sections have been measured for the production of prompt γ-rays following the interaction between the nuclei 19F, 56Fe and 59Co and neutrons at the energies 16.2, 18.1, 19.3, 20.5 and 21.8 MeV. The γ-ray spectra were observed with a Ge(Li) spectrometer and a time-of-flight technique. Analysis of the experimental data revealed that only (n, n′), (n, 2n) and (n, np) or (n, d) reactions take place with a noticeable probability. The experimental cross sections have been used for comparisons with compound statistical model calculations of the cross sections for the population of low-lying states of the reaction products. These investigations showed that the statistical model approach is not sufficient to describe the experimental excitation functions. The results indicate that direct and pre-compound processes must be included in the analysis of γ-ray yields from neutron induced reactions when bombarding energies exceed 14 MeV.