Nd REACTION AT 4.0, 5.0, AND 6.0 MeV

Cross sections of the 144 Sm(n,α) 141 Nd reaction were measured at En = 4.0, 5.0 and 6.0 MeV performed at the 4.5-MV Van de Graaff Accelerator of Peking University, China. A double-section gridded ionization chamber was used to detect the alpha particles. The samples of 144 Sm2O3 were placed at the common cathode plate of the chamber. Monoenergetic neutrons were produced by a deuterium gas target through the 2 H(d,n) 3 He reaction. The neutron flux was monitored by a BF3 long counter. Cross sections of the 238 U(n,f) reaction were used as the standard to perform the (n,α) reaction measurement. Present results are compared with existing measurements, evaluations and TALYS-1.6 code calculations.