Abstract
The production of neutron-rich isotopes and the occurrence of neutron capture cascades via laser-driven (pulsed) neutron sources are investigated theoretically. The considered scenario involves the interaction of a laser-driven neutron beam with a target made of a single type of seed nuclide. We present a comprehensive study over $95$ seed nuclides in the range $3\le Z \le 100$ from $^7_3$Li to $^{255}_{100}$Fm. For each element, the heaviest sufficiently-long-lived (half life $> 1$ h) isotope whose data is available in the recent ENDF-B-VIII.0 neutron sublibrary is considered. We identify interesting seed nuclides with good performance in the production of neutron-rich isotopes where neutron capture cascades may occur. The effects of the neutron number per pulse, the neutron-target interaction size and the number of neutron pulses are also analyzed. Our results show the possibility of observing up to $4$ successive neutron capture events leading to neutron-rich isotopes with $4$ more neutrons than the original seed nuclide. This hints at new experimental possibilities to produce neutron-rich isotopes and simulate neutron capture nucleosynthesis in the laboratory. With several selected interesting seed nuclides in the region of the branching point of the $s$-process ($^{126}_{51}$Sb, $^{176}_{71}$Lu and $^{187}_{75}$Re) or the waiting point of the $r$-process (Lu, Re, Os, Tm, Ir and Au), we expect that laser-driven experiments can shed light on our understanding of nucleosynthesis.
Highlights
Neutron-rich isotopes are of particular interest in both fundamental nuclear physics [1,2,3,4,5,6,7] and the neutron capture processes of nucleosynthesis in astrophysics [8,9,10]
Our results show the possibility of observing up to four successive neutron capture events, leading to neutron-rich isotopes with four more neutrons than the original seed nuclide
1 Hz, our results show the possibility of observing up to four successive neutron capture events leading to the production of neutron-rich isotopes with four more neutrons than the original seed nuclide
Summary
Neutron-rich isotopes are of particular interest in both fundamental nuclear physics [1,2,3,4,5,6,7] and the neutron capture processes of nucleosynthesis in astrophysics [8,9,10]. As achievable neutron fluxes are that high, another advantage of studying neutron capture processes with laser-driven neutron sources is that they provide an opportunity to analyze neutron capture cascades similar to the ones occurring during neutron capture nucleosynthesis in astrophysics. This would give us the chance to simulate the neutron capture nucleosynthesis in the laboratory for the first time [59,61,68], leading to an improved understanding of the ongoing processes.
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