Elastic neutron scattering at 96 MeV

Abstract

A facility for detection of scattered neutrons in the energy interval 50-130 MeV, SCANDAL (SCAttered Nucleon Detection AssembLy), has recently been installed at the 20 - 180-MeV neutron beam line of The Svedberg Laboratory, Uppsala. Elastic neutron scattering from12C,16O,56Fe,89Y, and208Pb has been studied at 96 MeV in the 10 - 70° interval. The results from12C and208Pb have recently been published,6 while the data from16O,56Fe, and89Y are under analysis. The achieved energy resolution, 3.7 MeV, is about an order of magnitude better than for any previous experiment above 65 MeV incident energy. The present experiment represents the highest neutron energy where the ground state has been resolved from the first excited state in neutron scattering. A novel method for normalization of the absolute scale of the cross section has been used. The estimated normalization uncertainty, 3%, is unprecedented for a neutron-induced differential cross section measurement on a nuclear target. The results are compared with modern optical model predictions, based on phenomenology or microscopic theory. Applications for these measurements are nuclear-waste incineration, single-event upsets in electronics, and fast-neutron therapy. © 2005 American Institute of Physics.