Determination of Ni59(n,xp) reaction cross sections using surrogate reactions

The Ni-59(n, xp) reaction cross sections have been measured following the surrogate reaction ratio method in the equivalent neutron energy range of 11.9-15.8 MeV by populating the compound nucleus Ni-60* through transfer reaction Fe-56(Li-6, d) at E-lab = 35.9 MeV. The Co-59(Li-6, alpha)Ni-61* transfer reaction at E-lab = 40.5 MeV has been used as the reference reaction which is the surrogate of Ni-60(n, xp) reaction populating the compound nucleus Ni-61*. The proton decay probabilities have been determined by measuring evaporated protons at backward angles in coincidence with projectile like fragments (PLFs, either d or alpha) detected around grazing angles. The cross sections for the reference reaction Ni-60(n, xp) are taken from JENDL-4.0 library, which closely reproduce the available experimental data. The cross sections for the desired Ni-59(n, xp) reaction so obtained compare well with the nuclear-reactions-model code TALYS-1.8 using microscopic level densities. The present experimental data are consistent with the evaluated data library of ROSFOND-2015 but not with TENDL-2015 and ENDF/B-VIII, indicating the need of new evaluations for this reaction of importance to fusion technology.