Radiative thermal neutron-capture cross sections for theW180(n,γ)reaction and determination of the neutron-separation energy

Abstract

Radiative thermal neutron-capture cross sections for the 180 W(n, γ) reaction and determination of the neutron-separation energy Prompt thermal neutron-capture partial γ-ray production cross sections were measured for the first time for the 180 W(n, γ) reaction using a cold guided-neutron beam at the Budapest Research Reactor. Absolute 181 W γ-ray cross sections were internally standardized using well-known comparator γ-ray cross sections belonging to the other tungsten isotopes present in the 11.35%-enriched 180 W sample. Transitions were assigned to levels in 181 W based largely upon information available in the literature. The total radiative thermal neutron-capture cross section σ0 was determined from the sum of direct prompt γ-ray cross sections populating the ground state and a modeled contribution accounting for ground-state feeding from the quasi continuum. In this work, we find σ0 = 21.67 (77)