Measurements of proton induced reaction cross sections on 120Te for the astrophysical p-process

TL;DR

This study measured proton-induced reaction cross sections on 120Te relevant to astrophysical p-process nucleosynthesis, providing experimental data to compare with theoretical models.

Contribution

The paper presents new experimental cross section data for 120Te(p,gamma) and 120Te(p,n) reactions, enhancing the understanding of nuclear reactions in astrophysics.

Findings

Measured cross sections for 120Te reactions between 2.47 and 7.93 MeV.

Compared experimental results with NON-SMOKER and TALYS model predictions.

Provided data to improve astrophysical reaction rate calculations.

Abstract

The total cross sections for the 120Te(p,gamma)121I and 120Te(p,n)120I reactions have been measured by the activation method in the effective center-of-mass energies between 2.47 MeV and 7.93 MeV. The targets were prepared by evaporation of 99.4 % isotopically enriched 120Te on Aluminum and Carbon backing foils, and bombarded with proton beams provided by the FN tandem accelerator at the University of Notre Dame. The cross sections and $S$ factors were deduced from the observed gamma ray activity, which was detected off-line by two Clover HPGe detectors mounted in close geometry. The results are presented and compared with the predictions of statistical model calculations using the codes NON-SMOKER and TALYS.