Coincidence Efficiency Measurement Using 11B(p,n)11C

Thumbnail Image
Date
2012-10-24
Authors
Padalino, Stephen
Polsin, Danae
Russ, Megan
Krieger, Michael
Stillman, Collin
Simone, Angela
Bienstock, Mollie
Ellison, Drew
Yuly, Mark
Mann, Keith
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Houghton College
Abstract
An attempt to measure the 12C(n,2n)11C cross section for high energy neutrons in the range of 20-30 MeV was conducted using Ohio University’s accelerator facility as a fast neutron source. The neutrons were incident on a graphite target and the β+ decay of the activated carbon-11 nuclei were observed in an on-axis gamma ray detector pair. To predetermine the efficiency of this gamma ray detector system, a boron-11 activation experiment was performed. Using SUNY Geneseo’s 1.7 MV tandem pelletron accelerator, 3.1 MeV protons were incident upon the 11B foil inducing the 11B(p,n)11C reaction to occur at a high rate of activation. The 11C decays via ?+ emission, then upon annihilation with an electron creates characteristic 511-511 keV photon pairs which were counted using coincidence methods. Since the 11B(p,n) cross section is well defined, a calculation was performed to determine the expected number of activations and later compared to the total number of decays observed in the counting system. Funded in part by a grant from the DOE through the Laboratory for Laser Energetics.
Description
Event
2012 Fall Meeting of the APS Division of Nuclear Physics, Newport Beach, CA, October 24-27, 2012.
Keywords
Student Projects
Citation
Collections
Rights
Authors retain the copyright for all content posted in this repository. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed beyond the Houghton College community without permission except in accordance with fair use doctrine.