Cross section of the 197Au(n,2n)196Au reaction

The 197 Au(n,2n)196 Au reaction cross section has been measured at two energies, namely at 17.1 MeV and 20.9 MeV, by means of the activation technique, relative to the 27 Al(n,α)24 Na reference reaction cross section. Quasi-monoenergetic neutron beams were produced at the 5.5 MV Tandem T11/25 accelerator laboratory of NCSR “Demokritos”, by means of the 3 H(d,n)4 He reaction, implementing a new Ti-tritiated target of ∼ 400 GBq activity. The induced γ-ray activity at the targets and reference foils has been measured with HPGe detectors. The cross section for the population of the second isomeric (12− ) state m2 of 196 Au was independently determined. Auxiliary Monte Carlo simulations were performed using the MCNP code. The present results are in agreement with previous experimental data and with theoretical calculations of the measured reaction cross sections, which were carried out with the use of the EMPIRE code.