Comparison of Level Density Models for the 60,61,62,64Ni(p, n) Reactions of Structural Fusion Material Nickel from Threshold to 30 MeV

Abstract

The knowledge of level density for reaction cross-section calculations are needed for various applications such as fission and fusion reactor design, accelerator driven sub-critical systems, nuclear medicine, neutron capture and astrophysics. In this study, the excitation functions for (p, n) reactions from reaction threshold to 30 MeV proton incident energy on 60Ni, 61Ni, 62Ni and 64Ni isotopes were calculated using TALYS 1.6 nuclear code involving the level density models. This is of importance to the validation of nuclear model approaches with increased predictive power. There are several models of level density that can be used to predict cross-section. In this work, the (p, n) cross-sections would be calculated using three different model of level density, such as constant temperature model, back-shifted fermi gas model and generalized superfluid model on 60,61,62,64Ni reactions. The (p, n) reaction cross-section calculations for 60,61,62,64Ni target nuclei were compared with each other and the experimental nuclear reaction data obtained from EXFOR database.