Nuclear Science and Engineering

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The Effect of Low-Energy Neutrons on Activation

Cross-Section Measurement

Xiaolong Huang, Weixiang Yu, Xiaogang Han, Wenrong Zhao, Hanlin Lu,
Jinxiang Chen, Zhaomin Shi, Gouyou Tang & Guohui Zhang

To cite this article: Xiaolong Huang, Weixiang Yu, Xiaogang Han, Wenrong Zhao, Hanlin Lu,
Jinxiang Chen, Zhaomin Shi, Gouyou Tang & Guohui Zhang (1999) The Effect of Low-Energy
Neutrons on Activation Cross-Section Measurement, Nuclear Science and Engineering, 131:2,
267-274, DOI: 10.13182/NSE99-A2033

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NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING: 131, 267–274 ~1999!

The Effect of Low-Energy Neutrons on Activation

Cross-Section Measurement

Xiaolong Huang,* Weixiang Yu, Xiaogang Han, Wenrong Zhao, and Hanlin Lu
China Institute of Atomic Energy, P.O. Box 275(41), Beijing, China 102413

and

Jinxiang Chen, Zhaomin Shi, Gouyou Tang, and Guohui Zhang

Peking University, Beijing, China 100871

Received January 8, 1998

Accepted June 4, 1998

Abstract – The effect of low-energy neutrons on activation cross-section measurements was analyzed
carefully and proved by the measured neutron spectra of T(d, n) 4He and D(d, n) 3He reactions. The
58
Ni(n, p) 58m1gCo and 64 Zn(n, p) 64Cu reactions were used to confirm this analysis, and their cross sec-
tions were measured accurately. In addition, their evaluated excitation functions are given.

I. INTRODUCTION II. NEUTRON SOURCES

In the neutron energy range below 20 MeV, the

The activation cross sections for neutron-induced
threshold reactions are of considerable importance both
for nuclear physics studies and nuclear engineering ap-
plications, especially in fission and fusion reactors.
In the neutron energy range below 20 MeV, four neu-
tron sources, i.e., T~d, n! 4 He, D~d, n! 3 He, T~ p, n! 3 He,
and 7 Li~ p, n! 7 Be reactions, are usually used in activa-
tion cross-section measurement. Theoretically, these neu-
tron sources are monoenergetic neutrons at a certain
neutron energy region, but in practice several kinds of
low-energy neutrons still exist due to some unavoidable
factors in measurement. These low-energy neutrons may
affect the reliability of the cross section seriously.
In this work, we measured the neutron spectra for
T~d, n! 4 He and D~d, n! 3 He reactions to investigate the
sorts and producing procedure of low-energy neutrons,
as well as their effect on the cross-section measurement.
At the same time, we also measured the cross sections
and evaluated the excitation functions for the two typi-
cally lower threshold reactions, i.e., 58 Ni~n, p! 58m1g Co
and 64 Zn~n, p! 64 Cu reactions.
*E-mail: huangxl@mipsa.ciae.ac.cn
T~d, n! 4 He, D~d, n! 3 He, T~ p, n! 3 He, and 7 Li~ p, n! 7 Be
reactions are usually used as neutron sources in activa-
tion cross-section measurement. The relevant properties
of these neutron sources are listed in Table I.
The neutron energy ~depending on the incident par-
ticle energy, the angle of neutron emission!, the monoen-
ergeticity of neutron energy ~depending on the angle of
neutron beams, absorbent properties of target or window
materials, and whether the breakup reaction is open and
the residual nucleus is in an excited state or not!, the neu-
tron yield ~depending on reaction cross section, and tar-
get thickness!, etc. should be known clearly when these
neutron sources are used. If these factors are taken into
account carefully and corrections are made properly, the
monoenergeticity of the neutron sources is very good and
the effect of low-energy neutrons is rather weak in the
activation cross-section measurements.
For instance, the contributions of low-energy neu-
trons ~most of them are scattering neutrons! are rather
small for 7 Li-p and T-p neutron sources unless the pro-
ton energy is over 2.38 and 7.08 MeV, respectively, when
the interference reactions such as 7 Li~ p, n! 7 Be* ~first ex-
cited energy! and 7 Li~ p, n! 7 Be** ~second excited energy!

267
268 HUANG et al.

TABLE I
Frequently Used Neutron Sources at Accelerators

Incident Energy, MeV Neutron Energy, MeV

~Effective ~Monoenergetic
Monoenergetic Neutron Type of
Reaction Range! Energy Range! Accelerators Notes
7
Li~ p, n! 7 Be 1.881 to 7 0.03 to 5.3 VDG a Ep . 2.37 MeV, the 7 Li~ p, n! 7 Be*
~1.881 to 2.37! ~0.03 to 0.6! Tandem HI-13 1st ~the first excited energy of 7 Be
is 0.431 MeV! will be open
T~ p, n! 3 He 1.019 to 12 0.2 to 11.2 VDG a Ep . 8.35 MeV, the T~ p, np!D
~1.019 to 8.35! ~0.2 to 7.7! Cyclo-Tandem HI-13 reaction will be open
T~d, n! 4 He 0.1 to 12 13 to 29 VDG a Ed . 3.71 MeV, the T~d, np!T
~0.1 to 3.71! ~13 to 20! Cyclo-Tandem HI-13 reaction will be open
CCW b
D~d, n! 3 He 0.1 to 10 2 to 13 VDG Ed . 4.45 MeV, the D~d, np!D
~0.1 to 4.45! ~2 to 7.8! Cyclo-Tandem HI-13 reaction will be open
CCW b
a
VDG: Van de Graaff.
b
CCW: Cockcraft-Walton.

are open. But the conditions will be very different from
T-d and D-d neutron sources, as they are usually affected
by various kinds of low-energy neutrons, particularly for
a D-d neutron source. This effect is usually increased as
the primary neutron energy increases.
When T-d and D-d neutron sources are applied to
measure the activation cross sections, usually several
kinds of low-energy neutrons exist. They are mainly pro-
duced by the following steps: ~a! after a long irradiation
time, the self-building D target will exist and thus pro-
duce low-energy neutrons via the D~d, n! 3 He reaction ~the
energy is usually lower than the primary neutrons as the
energies of the d beam are attenuating due to the beam-
stop materials!; ~b! when the energy of the incident d beam
the activities of the measured reaction; the other is the
neutron flux. The neutron flux is measured by either ab-
solute or relative measurement methods. For absolute
measurement, the neutron flux is usually obtained by the
associated particle method or by a proton recoil method,
such as with a proportional counter. For relative mea-
surement, the neutron flux is obtained through the refer-
ence reaction, the cross section of which is well known.
According to the measured principle, the effect of
low-energy neutrons on the activation cross section is
in the measured activities and the incident neutron flux
if the primary neutrons are not monoenergetic. To ana-
lyze the effects clearly, the 58 Ni~n, p! 58m1g Co and
64 Zn~n, p! 64 Cu reactions are taken as examples.

is .4.45 MeV, the interference reaction D~d, np!D is open;

~c! primary neutrons interact and are scattered with the
target, structure, and cooling materials, etc.; ~d! when the
incident d beam is bombarding the target and structure
materials etc., background neutrons will produce nuclear
reactions via charged particles.
These low-energy neutrons are mixed with the pri-
mary neutrons and interfere seriously with the activation
cross-section measurements. The key to obtaining accu-
rate data is knowing how to avoid and0or reduce these
effects.
III. EFFECT OF LOW-ENERGY NEUTRONS ON
ACTIVATION CROSS-SECTION MEASUREMENT
For activation cross-section measurement, there are
mainly two physics quantities that are measured. One is
III.A. Energy Range from 1 to 6 MeV
In the neutron energy range from 1 to 6 MeV, D-d,
T-p, and 7 Li-p neutron sources are usually used. The three
neutron sources are monoenergetic neutrons in this en-
ergy region. But when Ed is over 300 keV~En ; 3.2 MeV!,
the contribution of low-energy neutrons in a D-d source
will be larger if the D target is used for a long time. These
low-energy neutrons can make the measured cross sec-
tions lower because their energy is lower than that of the
main neutrons.
From Fig. 1, in which the experimental data of the
64
Zn~n, p! 64 Cu reaction are classified according to the
neutron sources used, one can easily find that the exper-
imental data measured by the 7 Li-p and0or T-p neutron
sources @taken from Smith and Meadows 1 ~En 5 1 to
6 MeV!, Santry et al.,2 and King et al.3 are higher than
those for the D-d neutron source @taken from Smith and

NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING VOL. 131 FEB. 1999

 THE EFFECT OF LOW-ENERGY NEUTRONS ON ACTIVATION CROSS-SECTION MEASUREMENT
64
Fig. 1. Cross section for Zn~n, p! 64 Cu reaction.
Meadows 1 ~En 5 5 to 6!, Nakai et al.,4 Husain et al.,5
Ikeda et al.,6 and Rapaport et al.7 # when En is over
3 MeV. Even if all measurements are adjusted by refer-
ence cross sections, decay data, etc., the phenomenon still
exists. Moreover, the discrepancies between the measure-
ments using D-d and T-p neutron sources are increasing
as the neutron energy increases.
To explicitly observe the effect and the distribu-
tion of low-energy neutrons, the neutron spectra for the
D~d, n! 3 He reaction at a 0-deg angle have been mea-
sured by the time-of-flight method. This experiment
was carried out at the Van de Graaff accelerator of Peking
University. The incident energies of the deuteron beams
are 2 and 3 MeV, and the thicknesses of the new and old
~having been used for over 10 h! D targets are 1.5 and
;1.7 mg0cm 2, respectively. The measured results are
shown in Figs. 2 and 3. From the measured neutron spec-
(a)
Fig. 2. Measured neutron spectra for D~d, n! 3 He reaction using ~a! new D-Ti target ~target thickness: 1.5 mg0cm 2 ! and
~b! old D-Ti target ~target thickness: 1.7 mg0cm 2 !; Ed 5 2.0 MeV.
NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING VOL. 131
269
tra, it is obvious that the contribution of low-energy neu-
trons in the old D target is very large, while in the new D
target it is rather small, and the energy region is very nar-
row. Obviously for a D-d neutron source, the low-energy
neutrons are unavoidable if E d is rather large ~see
Figs. 2a, 2b, 3a, and 3b in detail!.
Thus, for the activation cross-section measurements,
if either the neutron flux or the activities of the measured
reaction are sensitive to the low-energy neutrons, the cross
section would be affected by low-energy neutrons. Ac-
cordingly, the measurements may be inaccurate.
III.B. Energy Range from 6 to 13 MeV
In this neutron energy region, the D-d neutron source
is mainly used. When Ed . 4.45 MeV, the D~d, np!D re-
action will be open. Thus, the effect of low-energy neu-
trons may be very serious. From the experimental data
of the 58 Ni~n, p! 58m1g Co reaction ~see Fig. 4!, we can
find that large discrepancies exist, particularly in the data
of Smith and Meadows 1 for different years.
To obtain precise measurements, an international
comparison was carried out in 1991 for the
58
Ni~n, p! 58m1g Co reaction. This international compar-
ison shows that the measurements of Smith in 1975 and
Vonach et al.8 in 1989 are lower than their measurements
in 1991. After correcting the data with reference cross
sections, gamma branching factors, etc., the discrepan-
cies still exist. From their measurements, we find that
the correction for low-energy neutrons in 1991 is .30%
compared to ,10% in 1975. This indicates that the low-
energy neutrons are indeed existent in this neutron en-
ergy region and affect the measurements seriously.
To investigate the distribution of low-energy neu-
trons in this neutron energy region, the neutron spectra
for the D-d neutron source have been measured by the
multiple foil activation technique. The chosen threshold
reactions and their relevant properties are listed in
(b)
FEB. 1999
270 HUANG et al.

(a) (b)

Fig. 3. Measured neutron spectra for D~d, n! 3 He reaction using ~a! new D-Ti target ~target thickness: 1.5 mg0cm 2 ! and
~b! old D-Ti target ~target thickness: 1.7 mg0cm 2 !; Ed 5 3.0 MeV.

58
Fig. 4. Cross section for Ni~n, p! 58m1g Co reaction.

Table II. The experiment was carried out at the Tandem
HI-13 accelerator of the China Institute of Atomic En-
ergy. The incident energy of the deuteron beam is
8.4 MeV. The activities of each reaction were measured
by a Ge~Li! detector and also listed in Table II. From the
measured activities and the known excitation functions
of the chosen threshold reactions, the neutron spectrum
was analyzed and calculated using the SAND-II code,
which incorporates iterative calculations and is com-
monly used in analyzing reactor spectra. The obtained
neutron spectrum for primary neutrons at 11.5 MeV is
shown in Fig. 5.
Figure 5 shows the existence of several different
sources of low-energy neutrons, such as D~d, np!d breakup
neutrons, low-energy D-d neutrons, and neutrons scat-
tered by cool water, etc.

NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING VOL. 131 FEB. 1999

 THE EFFECT OF LOW-ENERGY NEUTRONS ON ACTIVATION CROSS-SECTION MEASUREMENT 271

TABLE II The T-d reaction is a good monoenergetic neutron

Threshold Reactions Used for Neutron Spectrum Unfolding source in the neutron energy range below 20 MeV. Pre-
viously, all experimental researchers believed that the ef-
Q Threshold Measured fect of low-energy neutrons was very small and did not
Value Energy Activities correct it in their measurements. Our experiment shows
Reaction Half-Life ~MeV! ~MeV! ~activity0s{N! that the effect of low-energy neutrons must not be ig-
115
In~n, n ' ! 115m In 4.5 h 20.33 ;0.4 7.1590E217 a nored. In fact, these low-energy neutrons, which are pro-
58
Ni~n, p! 58 Co 70.82 days 0.4 ;0.5 6.1057E217 duced by the self-building D target; multiscattering
46
Ti~n, p! 46 Sc 83.79 days 21.58 ;3.6 1.8397E217 neutrons of the primary neutrons, which are produced by
48
Ti~n, p! 48 Sc 43.67 h 23.12 ;5.0 2.2311E218 the self-building D target; multiscattering neutrons of the
56
Fe~n, p! 56 Mn 2.59 h 22.92 ;4.0 5.4635E218
primary neutrons; A~d, xn!B reaction neutrons of some
27
Al~n, a! 24 Na 15 h 23.13 ;6.0 6.8747E218 materials in the target and sample holder irradiated by
54
Fe~n, p! 54 Mn 312.12 days 0.08 ;2.0 4.7485E217 the d beam; etc., are dependent on the irradiated time of
54
Fe~n, a! 51 Cr 27.7 days 0.84 ;4.1 4.0034E218
181
Ta~n,2n! 180 Ta 8.15 h 27.58 ;7.7 7.6109E217 the T-Ti target and the energy of the incident d beam.
197
Au~n,2n! 196Au 6.183 days 28.07 ;8.4 1.1528E216 The experiment was carried out at the Van de Graaff
accelerator of Peking University. The incident energies
a
Read as 7.1590 3 10217. of the deuteron beam are 2 and 3 MeV. The neutron spec-
tra for the T~d, n! 4 He reaction at a 0-deg angle have also
been measured by the time-of-flight method. The exper-
III.C. Energy Range from 13 to 20 MeV imental results are listed in Table III.
Table III shows that the amount of low-energy neu-
The T-d neutron source is used in this energy region. trons of D-d in a T-d neutron source is increasing as the
The measurements for the 58 Ni~n, p! 58m1g Co reaction, energy of the incident d beam increases even if a new
which are shown in Fig. 6, indicate that there are large T-Ti target is used. With the old T-Ti target, the amount
discrepancies among the available experimental data, par- would be even larger. Therefore, the effect of low-energy
ticularly in the higher energy ~En . 15 MeV region!. neutrons on activation cross sections in the higher energy

Fig. 5. Neutron spectra for primary neutron energy at 11.5 MeV analyzed with SAND-II code.

NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING VOL. 131 FEB. 1999

272 HUANG et al.

(Ref. 9)

(Ref. 10)

Fig. 6. The 58 Ni~n, p! 58m1g Co reaction ~* without correcting the effect of low-energy neutrons; # correcting the effect of
low-energy neutrons!.

region should be considered carefully and be reduced rea-
sonably in any measurements. Particularly for those low-
threshold energy reactions, this effect becomes very large
and must be corrected.
The activation cross sections for the
58
Ni~n, p! 58m1g Co reaction in a higher energy ~En . 15
MeV! region were measured repeatedly at the Van de
Graaff accelerator of Peking University in 1996. The ex-
perimental conditions were very similar to those of Li
Tingyan et al.11 and Bormann et al.,12 e.g., the incident
energies of deuteron beams are 2 and 3 MeV, and a new
T-Ti target was used. The measured cross sections at a
0-deg angle were consistent with each other even if the
incident energy of the d beam decreases to 1.7 MeV. When
the effect of low-energy neutrons is deducted by irra-
diating an empty target, which is free of T, these cross
sections are much lower than the measurements in
Refs. 9 and 10. Obviously, in the En 5 15 to 20 MeV
region, the discrepancies among the measurements for
the 58 Ni~n, p! 58m1g Co reaction are mainly caused by
low-energy neutrons, and the higher the neutron energy,
the larger the effect of low-energy neutrons.

TABLE III
Measured Ingredients of Low-Energy Neutrons in a T-Ti Target

Energy Range of Ratio of Peak Value of Ratio of

Ed Condition of D~d, n! Neutron ND-d 0NT-d C~d, n! Neutron NC-d 0NT-d
~MeV! T-Ti Target ~MeV! ~%! ~MeV! ~%!

2.0 New 4.75 to 5.4 1.4

2.0 Old 3.0 to 5.4 5.2
3.0 New 4.6 to 6.4 6.6 2.8 13.6
3.0 Old 4.0 to 6.4 27.4 2.8 16.4

NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING VOL. 131 FEB. 1999

 THE EFFECT OF LOW-ENERGY NEUTRONS ON ACTIVATION CROSS-SECTION MEASUREMENT 273

TABLE IV sured neutron energy range is known to be large, how

58
Measured Data for the Ni~n, p! 58m1g
Co can we get more accurate cross sections in experiments?
and 64 Zn~n, p! 64 Cu Reactions Obviously the key to obtaining accurate data is the rea-
sonable reduction or correction for the effect of low-
64
Zn~n, p! 64 Cu Reaction 58
Ni~n, p! 58m1g Co Reaction energy neutrons.
The cross sections for the 58 Ni~n, p! 58m1g Co and
En s s 64
Zn~n, p! 64 Cu reactions were measured in this work. In
~MeV! ~mb! ~mb! the 1- to 6-MeV energy region, the new D target was used,
and the irradiation time was as short as possible. In the
4.00 6 0.16 132.9 6 3.8 352.4 6 5.6 7- to 13-MeV energy region, the measuring neutron flux
4.90 6 0.10 181.6 6 6.3 481.1 6 7.5
6.00 6 0.13 205.2 6 7.9 581.1 6 14.0 was deduced from the curve of the effective reaction
7.00 6 0.15 219.5 6 8.4 628.6 6 15.9 threshold energy via the measured neutron flux. The curve
8.37 6 0.58 235 6 12 was obtained by irradiating a set of samples with dif-
9.37 6 0.46 251 6 14 ferent reaction threshold energies. In the 13- to 20-MeV
9.5 6 0.5 257 6 13 energy region, the effect of low-energy neutrons was de-
9.9 6 0.5 249 6 13 ducted by irradiating an empty target that was free of T.
10.40 6 0.33 249 6 13 As the effect of low-energy neutrons was reduced or
11.40 6 0.35 243 6 12 deducted properly, the accuracy of the cross sections for
14.00 6 0.05 329 6 9 the two reactions was improved, especially above the
14.65 6 0.20 134 6 4 15-MeV energy region, which is ;30 to 50% lower than
17.99 6 0.15 61 6 8 101 6 11 previous measurements. Current measured data are listed
19.02 6 0.22 57 6 5 89.8 6 5.4 in Table IV and shown in Figs. 7 and 8, together with our
evaluated excitation functions.

IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS FOR 58 Ni~n, p! 58 Co

AND 64 Zn~n, p! 64 Cu REACTIONS V. CONCLUSION

Now that the effect of low-energy neutrons on acti- In this work, the effect of low-energy neutrons was
vation cross-section measurements in the whole mea- studied carefully, and the neutron spectra of the D~d, n!

58
Fig. 7. Cross section for Ni~n, p! 58m1g Co reaction.

NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING VOL. 131 FEB. 1999

274
Fig. 8. Cross section for
and T~d, n! reaction were measured to investigate the dis-
tribution of low-energy neutrons. Our work shows that
the effect of low-energy neutrons on activation cross-
section measurements below the 20-MeV energy region
is large and must be reduced or deducted properly.
At the same time the cross sections for the
58
Ni~n, p! 58m1g Co and 64 Zn~n, p! 64 Cu reactions were an-
alyzed and measured carefully, further proving this effect.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We are grateful to the Institute of Heavy Ion Physics, Pe-
king University, from which we got financial support for this
research program.
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