Determination the total neutron yields of several semiconductor compounds using various alpha emitters

Abstract

In the present work, the cross-sections of (α,n) reactions available in the literature as a function of α-particle energies for light and medium elements have been rearranged for α-particle energies from near threshold up to 10 MeV in steps of (0.050MeV) using the (Excel and Matlab) computer programs. The obtained data were used to calculate the neutron yields (n/106α) using the quick basic–computer program (Simpson Rules). The stopping powers of alpha particle energies from near threshold to 10 MeV for light and medium elements such as (nat.Be,10B,11B,13C,14N,nat.O,nat.F,nat.Mg,nat.Al,29Si,30Si, nat.P and 46.48Ti) have been calculated using the Zeigler formula. The kinetic energies (Tα) and the branching ratios of each α-emitters such as (211Bi, 210Po, 211Po, 215Po, 217At, 218Rn, 219Rn, 222Rn, 224Ra, 226Ra, 215Th, 228Th, 232U, 234U, 236U, 238U, 238Pu, 239Pu, 241Am, 245Es, 252Fm, 254Fm, 256Fm, 257Fm and 257Md) are taken into consideration to calculate the mean kinetic energy <Tα>. The polynomial expressions were used to fitting the calculated weighted average of neutron yields (n/106α) for natural light and medium elements such as (Be, B, C, N, O, F, Mg, Al, Si, P and Ti) to determine the adopted neutron yields from the best fitting equation with minimum (CHISQ) at mean kinetic energies of various α-emitters. The total neutron yields (n/s/gx/ppmi) of the mentioned natural light and medium elements have been calculated using the adopted neutron yields (n/106α) from the fitting equations at mean kinetic energies of various α-emitters. The total neutron yields (n/s/gα-emitters/gcompounds) of semiconductor compounds such as (AlN, AlP, BN, BP, SiC, TiO2, BeSiN2, MgCN2, MgSiN2 and MgSiP2) have been calculated by mixing (1gram) of compounds with (1gram) of pure α-emitters using the quick basic computer program. The aim of the present work is to constructed and fabricate the neutron sources theoretically