Measurement and analysis of the ²⁴¹Am(n,γ ) cross section with liquid scintillator detectors using time-of-flight spectroscopy at the n_TOF facility at CERN

Abstract

The ²⁴¹Am(n,γ) cross section has been measured at the n_TOF facility at CERN using deuterated benzene liquid scintillators, commonly known as C6D6 detectors, and time-of-flight spectrometry. The results in the resolved resonance range bring new constraints to evaluations below 150 eV, and the energy upper limit was extended from 150 to 320 eV with a total of 172 new resonances not present in current evaluations. The thermal capture cross section was found to be σₜₕ = 678 ± 68 b, which is in good agreement with evaluations and most previous measurements. The capture cross section in the unresolved resonance region was extracted in the remaining energy range up to 150 keV, and found to be larger than current evaluations and previous measurements.