Experimental setup and procedure for the measurement of the 7Be(n,α)α reaction at n_TOF

The newly built second experimental area EAR2 of the n_TOF spallation neutron source at CERN allows to perform (n, charged particles) experiments on short-lived highly radioactive targets. This paper describes a detection apparatus and the experimental procedure for the determination of the cross-se...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Cosentino, L., Musumarra, A., Barbagallo, M., Pappalardo, A., Colonna, Nicola, Damone, L., Cortés Giraldo, Miguel Antonio, Guerrero Sánchez, Carlos, Lerendegui Marco, Jorge, Praena Rodríguez, Javier, Quesada Molina, José Manuel
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2016
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Sevilla (US)
Repositorio:idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
OAI Identifier:oai:idus.us.es:11441/86849
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/11441/86849
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2016.05.089
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Cosmological lithium problem
Big bang nucleosynthesis
7Be(n,α)α reaction
n_TOF spallation neutron source
Descripción
Sumario:The newly built second experimental area EAR2 of the n_TOF spallation neutron source at CERN allows to perform (n, charged particles) experiments on short-lived highly radioactive targets. This paper describes a detection apparatus and the experimental procedure for the determination of the cross-section of the 7Be(n,α)α reaction, which represents one of the focal points toward the solution of the cosmological Lithium abundance problem, and whose only measurement, at thermal energy, dates back to 1963. The apparently unsurmountable experimental difficulties stemming from the huge 7Be γ-activity, along with the lack of a suitable neutron beam facility, had so far prevented further measurements. The detection system is subject to considerable radiation damage, but is capable of disentangling the rare reaction signals from the very high background. This newly developed setup could likely be useful also to study other challenging reactions requiring the detectors to be installed directly in the neutron beam.