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The isomeric ratios for the neutron capture reaction 176Lu(n,γ) to the Jπ = 5/2−, 761.7 keV, T1/2 = 32.8 ns and the Jπ = 15/2+, 1356.9 keV, T1/2 = 11.1 ns levels of 177Lu, have been measured for the first time with the Detector for Advanced Neutron Capture Experiments (DANCE) at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. These measured isomeric ratios are compared with TALYS calculations.

The isomeric ratio for the neutron capture reaction 176Lu(n,γ) on the Jπ= 5/2−, 761.7 keV, T1/2=32.8 ns level of 177mLu, has been determined in the neutron energy range 8.5 eV-100 keV for the first time using the DANCE array at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Multi-step cascade γ-ray spectra from the neutron capture at isolated resonances of 161Dy nucleus were measured at the LANSCE/DANCE time-of-flight facility in Los Alamos National Laboratory. The objectives of this experiment were to confirm and possibly extend the spin assignment of s-wave neutron resonances and get new information on photon strength functions with emphasis on the role of the M1 scissors mode vibration. The preliminary results show that the scissors mode plays a significant role in all transitions between accessible states of the studied nucleus. The photon strength functions describing well our data are compared to results from 3He-induced reactions, (n,γ) experiments on Gd isotopes, and (γ,γ’) reactions.

In recent years we have performed a series of neutron capture experiments with the DANCE detector array located at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center. The radiative decay spectrum from the compound nucleus contains important information about nuclear structure and the reaction mechanism. The primary goals of the measurements are to obtain improved capture cross sections, to determine properties of the photon strength function, to improve neutron level densities and strength functions by determining the spin and parity of the capturing states. We shall present examples of our recent results.

Spectra of γ rays following neutron capture at isolated resonances of 6 stable Gd isotopes were measured with highly segmented BaF2 detector DANCE at the Los Alamos LANSCE spallation neutron source. The main emphasis was put on studying the γ-cascade decay of neutron resonances to get unique information on photon strength. An analysis of the accumulated γ-ray spectra within the extreme statistical model leads to an inescapable conclusion that scissors mode resonances are built not only on the ground-state, but also on excited levels in all product nuclei studied. The results on summed B(M1)↑ strength and energy of the scissors mode are compared with systematics of scissors mode parameters for the ground-state transitions deduced from nuclear resonance fluorescence measurements. A specific feature of our experiments is the investigation of scissors mode of odd nuclei, for which the nuclear resonance fluorescence provides only limited information.

The DANCE (Detector for Advanced Neutron Capture Experiments) array located at the Los Alamos national laboratory has been used to obtain the neutron capture cross sections for the 175Lu and 176Lu isotopes with neutron energies from thermal up to 100 keV. Both isotopes are of current interest for the nucleosynthesis s-process in astrophysics and for applications as in reactor physics or in nuclear medicine. Three targets were used to perform these measurements. One was natLu foil and the other two were isotope-enriched targets of 175Lu and 176Lu. The cross sections are obtained for now through a precise neutron flux determination and a normalization at the thermal neutron cross section value. A comparison with the recent experimental data and the evaluated data of ENDF/B-VII.0 will be presented. In addition, resonances parameters and spin assignments for some resonances will be featured.

Abstract: Stable isotope ratios such as 13C/12C play an important role in many applications including environment and energy research. Since many surface analysis techniques are plagued with unavoidable hydrocarbon contamination issues during analysis, it is highly desirable that 13C and 12C isotopes be measured simultaneously especially in specimens with a minute amount of 13C, in order to reliably determine 13C/12C ratios. In this paper, we report that deuterium induced proton particle reactions, 13C(d,p)14C and 12C(d,p)13C, provide a convenient and reliable approach for 13C/12C ratio determination. Optimizations on experimental considerations and potential interferences from other common light isotopes are discussed as well as results from the application of this technique to diagnose the performance of a target debris collection in an inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We report on new measurements of the 14C(n,γ)15C cross section with averaged neutron energies of 30, 150, and 500 keV using the fast cyclic activation technique. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]