Measurement of Fe 55 ( n , p ) cross sections by the surrogate-reaction method for fusion technology applications

We have measured the proton decay probabilities of the Fe-56* and Ti-47* compound systems which are populated by the transfer reactions Cr-52(Li-6, d) Fe-56* (surrogate of n + Fe-55 -> Fe-56* -> p + Mn-55) and Sc-45(Li-6, a) Ti-47* (surrogate of n + Ti-46 -> Ti-47* -> p + Sc-46) reactions, respectively. The Fe-55(n, p) cross sections were then obtained in the equivalent neutron energy range of 7.9 to 20.1 MeV within the framework of the surrogate-reaction method. The measured results were compared with predictions of the EMPIRE-3.2.3 statistical model code and various recent evaluated data libraries. The experimental cross-section data on Fe-55(n, p) are in reasonable agreement with EAF-2010, while the TENDL-2014 and ROSFOND-2010 data show some discrepancies. This study demonstrates the possibility of determining neutron-induced charged particle emission cross sections for unstable radionuclides relevant to fusion technology applications by the surrogate-reaction method.