Neutron Capture Cross Sections

These experiments have used the OSU nuclear reactor to produce radioactive species by neutron capture. From the activity (decay rate) of the resulting radioisotopes, it is possible to deduce the cross section (probability) for neutron capture.  These results have both theoretical and practical importance.  From the theoretical standpoint, the cross section is a fundamental property of the nucleus whose values can be calculated and compared with experiment as a test of the applicability of different models of nuclear structure.  The practical importance of precise knowledge of the cross sections includes the production of radioisotopes for medical uses and the calculation of shielding and activation of materials exposed to neutrons.

The photos below show our detector laboratory and the reactor core.  The blue glow comes from Cerenkov radiation emitted by charged particles (electrons) whose speeds exceed the speed of light in the water that serves as shielding in the reactor.

Here are some recent publications from this research:

"Neutron Capture Cross Section of ⁴⁴Ti," R. Ejnisman, I. D. Goldman, K. S. Krane, P. Mohr, Y. Nakazawa, E. B. Norman, T. Rauscher, and J. Reel, Phys. Rev. C 58, 2531 (1998).

“Measurement of Neutron Cross Sections for Medical Isotopes,” S. E. Binney, K. S. Krane, M. A. Garland, G. A. Pertmer, and S. Mirzadeh,” Trans. American  Nuclear  Society 86, 167 (2002).

“Neutron Capture Cross Section of ¹⁰²Pd,” C. L. Duncan and K. S. Krane, Phys. Rev.C 71, 054322 (2005).

“Neutron Capture Cross Sections of ^{112,116,122,124}Sn,” K. S. Krane and J. Sylvester, Phys. Rev. C 73, 054312 (2006).

“Neutron Capture Cross Sections of ¹⁴⁸Gd and the Decay of ¹⁴⁹Gd,” M. G. Rios, R. Casperson, K. S. Krane, and E. B. Norman, Phys. Rev. C 74, 044302 (2006).

“Neutron Capture Cross Sections of Even-Mass Tellurium Isotopes,” M. C. Eastman and K. S. Krane, Phys. Rev. C 77, 024303 (2008).

“Neutron Capture by Ru: Neutron Cross Sections of ^96,102,104Ru and g-ray Spectroscopy in the Decays of ^97,103,105Ru,” K. S. Krane, Phys. Rev. C 81, 044310 (2010).

“Gamma-ray Spectroscopy in the Decays of ^80mBr and ^82gBr,” K. S. Krane, Applied Radiation and Isotopes 69, 201 (2011).

“Gamma-Ray Energies in the Decay of ³⁸Cl,” K. S. Krane, M. L. Keck, E. B. Norman, and A. P. Shivprasad, Applied Radiation and Isotopes 70, 740 (2012).

“The Decays of ^70,72Ga to Levels of ^70,72Ge and the Neutron Capture Cross Sections of Ga,” K. S. Krane, Applied Radiation and Isotopes 70, 1649 (2012).

“Neutron Capture Cross Sections of ^{184,189,190,192}Os and the Decays of ¹⁸⁵Os, ¹⁹⁰Os^m, ¹⁹¹Os, and ¹⁹³Os,” K. S. Krane, Phys. Rev. C 85, 044319 (2012).

“Neutron Capture Cross Sections of ^{130,132,134,136,138}Ba,” A. Y. Dauenhauer and K. S. Krane, Physical Review C 85, 064301 (2012).

“Neutron Capture Cross Sections of ^{136,138,140,142}Ce and the Decays of ¹³⁷Ce,” S. Torrel and K. S. Krane, Physical Review C 86, 034340 (2012).

“Neutron Capture by ^94,96Zr and the Decays of ⁹⁷Zr and ⁹⁷Nb,” K. S. Krane, Applied Radiation and Isotopes 94, 60 (2014).

“Neutron Capture Cross Sections of ¹⁹⁴Hg and the Decays of ¹⁹⁵Hg,” S. F. Dorsett and K. S. Krane, Applied Radiation and Isotopes 96, 83 (2015).

Much of this research has been carried out by undergraduate physics majors for their senior thesis projects.  Here is a list of undergraduate and graduate theses that have resulted from this work:

“Thermal Neutron Capture Cross Sections of ⁶⁸Ge and ¹⁴⁸Gd,” Maribel Gomez Rios, (M.S., 1999).

“The Neutron Capture Cross Section of ²⁰⁸Pb,” Miriam Lambert, (Honors B.S., 2000)

“Measurement of the Thermal Neutron Absorption Cross Section of ¹⁶⁰Tb,” Jeremy Wolf (B.S., 2001)

“Measurements of Neutron Activation in Palladium Isotope 102,” Christopher Duncan (B.S., 2001)

“Measurement of the Thermal Neutron Absorption Cross-section of ¹⁹⁴Hg and ¹⁹⁴Au,” Skye Dorsett (B.S., 2001)

“Neutron Activation Analysis of ^195mPt and ^117mSn,” Rachel Bartlett (B.S., 2002)

“Measuring the Neutron Capture Cross Section of ¹⁴⁸Gd,” Robert J. Casperson (B.S., 2004)

“Using Angular Correlation to Determine Decay Behavior in Nuclei Through the Analysis of Coincidence Sum Peaks,” Werner W. Hager IV (Honors B.S., 2004)

“Measurements of Sn Neutron Activation Cross Sections Through Neutron Activation Analysis,” Jeremy Sylvester (B.S., 2005)

“Neutron Capture Cross Sections and Resonance Integrals of Tellurium Isotopes,” Micah C. Eastman (B.S., 2006)

“Neutron Capture Cross Sections and Resonance Integrals of Cadmium Isotopes,” Ken Takahashi (B.S., 2008)

“Neutron Capture Cross Sections, Resonance Integrals and Half-lives of Barium Isotopes,” Alex Dauenhauer (B.S., 2010)

“Neutron Capture Cross Sections and Half-lives of Cerium Isotopes,” Sol Torrel (B.S., 2010)

“Neutron Capture Cross Sections of Cadmium Isotopes,” Allison Gicking (B.S., 2012)

“Measuring Neutron Absorption Cross Sections of Natural Platinum via Neutron Activation Analysis,” Nick Petersen (B.S., 2012)

“X-ray Emissions in Measurements of the Neutron Capture Cross Sections for the Production of ¹⁹⁷Hg and ¹⁹⁷Pt and Scoping the Science Parameter Space of Future X-ray Astrophysics Calorimeter Missions,” Mason L. Keck (Honors B.S., 2012)