EPJ Web of Conferences (Jan 2023)

The 41Ar(n,y)42Ar reaction

  • Sahoo R. N.,
  • Paul M.,
  • Köster U.,
  • Scott R.,
  • Tessler M.,
  • Zylstra A.,
  • Avila M. L.,
  • Dickerson C.,
  • Jayatissa H.,
  • Kohen M.S.,
  • McLain J.,
  • Pardo R.C.,
  • Rehm K. E.,
  • Tolstukhin I.,
  • Vondrasek R.,
  • Bailey T.,
  • Callahan L.,
  • Clark A.,
  • Collon P.,
  • Kashiv Y.,
  • Nelson A.

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202328401037
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 284
p. 01037

Abstract

Read online

The cross-section of the thermal neutron capture 41Ar(n,γ)42Ar(t1/2=32.9 y) reaction was measured by irradiating a 40Ar sample at the high-flux reactor of Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) Grenoble, France. The signature of the two-neutron capture has been observed by measuring the growth curve and identifying the 1524.6 keV γ-lines of the shorter-lived 42K(12.4 h) β− daughter of 42Ar. Our preliminary value of the 41Ar(n,γ)42Ar thermal cross section is 240(80) mb at 25.3 meV. For the first time, direct counting of 42Ar was performed using the ultra-high sensitivity technique of noble gas accelerator mass spectrometry (NOGAMS) at Argonne National Laboratory, USA.