Measurement of the neutron-induced fission cross section of ²³⁰Th at the CERN n_TOF facility

Abstract

The neutron-induced fission cross section of ²³⁰Th has been measured at the neutron time-of-flight facility n_TOF located at CERN. The experiment was performed at the experimental area EAR-1 with a neutron flight path of 185 m, using Micromegas detectors for the detection of the fission fragments. The ²³⁰Th(n,f) cross section was determined relative to the ²³⁵U(n,f) one, covering the energy range from the fission threshold up to 400 MeV. The results from the present work are compared with existing cross-section datasets and the observed discrepancies are discussed and analyzed. Finally, using the code empire 3.2.3 a theoretical study, based on the statistical model, was performed leading to a satisfactory reproduction of the experimental results with the proper tuning of the respective parameters, while for incident neutron energy beyond 200 MeV the fission of ²³⁰Th was described by Monte Carlo simulations.