LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

T H E Li e ( n , ct)H 3 R E A C T I O N CROSS SECTION FOR 2 . 1 5 Mev

NEUTRONS

V. P. P e r e l y g i n a n d K . V. Tolstoy
Translated from Atomnaya Energiya, Vol. 9, No. 6, pp. 488-489,
December, 1960
Original article submitted March 3, 1960

The total and differential cross section for the Li6 (n, c0H s reaction has been determined for neutrons from the
D + D reaction having an average energy of 2.15 Mev. The reaction was studied in nuclear emulsion.

Ilford-E-1 emulsions impregnated with lithium (containing 92% of Li6) were used. The lithium was introduced
by soaking the plates in a 10% water solution of LiCsHsO 2 9 2H20. The lithium concentration in the plates was ap-
proximately (2.75 9 0.1) x 10 -4 g / c m z and was determined by spectral analysis. A beam of singly ionized deuterium
molecules having an energy of 500 key was incident on a heavy ice target. The diameter of the target was 2 . 5 cm.
The total neutron yield was determined with the aid of a proportional counter which recorded protons emitted in a
known solid angle from the D(d, p)H 3 reaction.

The emulsions were at a distance of 14.5 cm from the centerof the target,and the neutrons were incident nor-
m a l l y on the emulsion surface. Neutrons reaching the emulsions were at 145 ~ to the deuterium ion b e a m , and their
integral flux was (6.5 ~ 0.2) x l 0 T n e u t r o n / c m z. The effective neutron energy was 2.15 9 0.1 Mev. At this energy
the m a x i m u m range of the recoil protons in the emulsion was 45/~ ,while the m i n i m u m total track length of the
particle and the triton was great6r than 50/*. In addition to the
recoil protons, protons having a range of the order of 65/* were
observed. These were due to the N 14 ( n / p ) C 14 reaction which
takes place with the liberation of 0.6 Mev of energy. These
prgtons constituted about 10% of the number of protons due to
25 the reaction under investigation,and could be easily identified

it
b y t h e lower ionization density and the absence of the c~-par-
r ticle track. The ranges and angles of the ct particles and the
zo
tritons to the direction of the neutron beam were determined in
-,2 addition to their total energy. In some cases; owing to errors
4,, in the precise location of the reaction site in the nuclear e m u l -
4 sion, the total energy differed by • 0.5 Mev from the true va-

r
I01 lue of 6.93 Mev. Only those events were selected for which
there was a given relation between the range and the angle. The
number of cases for which this relation was not satisfied was
less than 20% of the total number of meashred tracks. 311 cases
of Lie (n, cq H3 reaction were observed over an area of 1.05 cm 2.
0 30 G 80 a 80'* 120 =' 150 =' 8n, H J In the analysis of the results,corrections were introduced
for the tracks leaving the emulsion, and the final calculation
Differential cross section of the reaction Lie(n, cQHa
was carried out in the center of mass system of the compound
in the system with center of inertia LiTM .
nucleus Li7. The reaction was not observed in the angle ranges
0-15 ~ and 150-180; owing to losses of tracks with large dip an-
gles.

The differential cross section for the reaction is shown in the figure. The correction for the tracks having large
dip angles was obtained by extrapolating the curve shown in the figure. The total reaction cross section, incorporat-
ing all the corrections,was found to he 215 ~=3 0 mb.* The root-mean-square error is made up of the following con-

* This result was referred to earlier in [1].

1028
tributions: statistical - 6%, error in the number of nuclei - 4a/o, error in the d e t e r m i n a t i o n of the neutron flux - 3%,
g e o m e t r i c a l corrections - 10%, spread in the values obtained in different series of experiments - 69o.

Our result agreed to within e x p e r i m e n t a l error with that reported in [2],where the reaction cross section was
found to be 215 ~ 23 and 189 ~: 22 mb for neutron energies of 1.86 and 2.39 Mev. It is also in a g r e e m e n t with the
results reported in [1],where the reaction cross section at 2.5 Mev was found to be 170 ~- 20 rob. The a g r e e m e n t is
less satisfactory in the case of [3],where the reaction cross section for 1.5 and 2.0 Mev neutrons was found to be 320
+ 60 and 270 + 40 rob,respectively.

In conclusion, the authors wish to thank O. I. Koziuts, T. A. Romanova,and F, A. Tikhomirov for help in the
present experiments.

LITERATURE CITED

1. A. V. Elpidinskii, F. L. Shapiro,and I. V. Shtranikh, Nuclear Reactions in Light Nuclei, supplement No. 5 to

A t o m n a y a ~nergiya [in Russian] ( A t o m i z d a t , 1957).
2. F. Ribe, Phys. Rev. 10_3, 741 (1956).
3. L W e d d e l l and J. Roberts, Phys. Rev. 9~5,117 (1954).

1029