Study of the 241Am(n,2n)240Am reaction cross section in the energy range of E n = 8.8−11.1 MeV.

The measurement of the cross section of the reaction ²⁴¹Am(n,2n)²⁴⁰Am has been performed at neutron energies from 8.8 to 11.1 MeV, implementing the activation technique. The neutron beam was produced at the TANDEM accelerator of NCSR “Demokritos” by the ²H(d,n)³He reaction, using a deuterium gas target. During the 5-day long irradiation, the neutron beam fluctuations were monitored in 100 seconds intervals by a BF₃ counter connected with a multiscaling unit. The radioactive target consisted of a 37 GBq ²⁴¹Am source enclosed in a Pb container. A natural Au foil, a ²⁷Al foil and a ⁹³Nb foil were used as reference materials for the neutron flux determination. After the end of the irradiation the activity induced at the target and the reference foils, was measured off-line by a 56% HPGe detector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]