197-Au(n,gamma ) cross section in the unresolved resonance region

The cross section of the reaction 197Au(n,γ ) was measured with the time-of-flight technique at the n TOF (neutron time-of-flight) facility in the unresolved resonance region between 5 and 400 keV using a pair of C6D6 (where D denotes 2H) liquid scintillators for the detection of prompt capture γ rays. The results with a total uncertainty of 3.9%–6.7% for a resolution of 20 bins per energy decade show fair agreement with the Evaluated Nuclear Data File Version B-VII.0 (ENDF/B-VII.0), which contains the standard evaluation. The Maxwellianaveraged cross section (MACS) at 30 keV is in excellent agreement with the one according to the ENDF/B-VII.0 evaluation and 4.7% higher than the MACS measured independently by activation technique. Structures in the cross section, which had also been reported earlier, have been interpreted as being due to clusters of resonances.
Postprint (published version)