Cross section measurements on zirconium isotopes for ~14 MeV neutrons and their theoretical calculations of excitation functions

Abstract：

The cross sections for the ⁹⁴Zr( n, d*) ^93m+gY, ⁹⁶Zr( n,γ) ⁹⁷Z, ⁹⁶Zr( n,2 n) ⁹⁵Zr, ⁹⁰Zr( n,α) ^87mSr, ⁹⁴Zr( n,α) ⁹¹Sr, ⁹⁰Zr( n, p) ^90mY, ⁹²Zr( n, p) ⁹²Y, and ⁹⁴Zr( n, p) ⁹⁴Y reactions have been measured in the neutron energy range of 13.5-14.8 MeV by means of the activation technique. The neutrons were produced via the D-T reaction. A high-purity germanium detector with high energy resolution was used to measure the induced γ activities. In combination with the nuclear reaction theoretical models, the excitation curves of the above-mentioned eight nuclear reactions within the incident neutron energy range from the threshold to 20 MeV were obtained by adopting the nuclear theoretical model program system Talys-1.9. The resulting experimental cross sections were analyzed and compared with the experimental data from published studies. Calculations were performed using Talys-1.9 and are in agreement with our experimental results, previous experimental values, as well as results of the theoretical excitation curves at the corresponding energies. The theoretical excitation curves generally match the experimental data well.