Studies of resonance in ²³Na, ²⁶Mg, ⁴¹K, ⁵⁵Mn and ⁵⁹Co

Abstract

The isotopes ²³Na, ²⁶Mg, ⁴¹K, ⁵⁵Mn and ⁵⁹Co were activated by the use of a well collimated, ¹⁰B filtered neutron beam from a reactor. An analysis of the induced activity versus ¹⁰B filter thickness permitted studies of individual resonances of the target elements. With the assumption of a "1/E" energy dependence for the neutron flux in the beam, it was possible to obtain resonance integrals and partial widths for radiative capture for the individual resonances. The results were normalized to the resonance integral and thermal cross section of gold.

Little work of this character has been done previously for these nuclides so that comparative results are not generally available. However, those values that were in the literature, did agree reasonably well with the results gotten by this author. A consistency check obtained by using the values calculated in this work to compute the thermal absorption cross sections showed that the computed cross sections were smaller than or equal to the tabulated absorption cross sections of the elements. Since additional contributions from other resonances would add on to the calculated values, the fact that the tabulated thermal cross sections were not exceeded is in the correct direction.