Cross sections of the 144Sm(n,α)141Nd and 66Zn(n,α)63Ni reactions at 4.0, 5.0 and 6.0 MeV

Abstract

Cross sections of the 144Sm(n,α)141Nd and 66Zn(n,α)63Ni reactions were measured at En = 4.0, 5.0 and 6.0 MeV performed at the 4.5-MV Van de Graaff Accelerator of Peking University, China. A double-section gridded ionization chamber was used to detect the alpha particles. The foil samples of 144Sm2O3 and enriched 66Zn were placed at the common cathode plate of the chamber. Monoenergetic neutrons were produced by a deuterium gas target through the 2H(d,n)3He reaction. The neutron flux was monitored by a BF3 long counter. Cross sections of the 238U(n,f) reaction were used as the standard to perform the (n,α) reaction measurement. Present results are compared with existing measurements and evaluations. They are generally in agreement with TALYS-1.6 code calculations. For the 144Sm(n,α)141Nd reaction our measurements support the data of JEF-2.2. For the 66Zn(n,α)63Ni reaction present results support the data of EAF-2010 and TENDL-2015 data.