Revised Cross Section of the $^{13}$C($\alpha$,n)$^{16}$O reaction between 5 and 8 MeV

TL;DR

This paper revises the cross section data for the $^{13}$C($$,n)$^{16}$O reaction between 5 and 8 MeV by applying a correction for detector efficiency, resulting in significantly lower values than previously reported.

Contribution

It introduces a correction method for neutron detector efficiency in existing $^{13}$C($$,n)$^{16}$O data, improving accuracy of the cross section measurements.

Findings

Corrected cross section data are nearly half of the original values.

Verification using neutron spectroscopy and reverse reaction data confirms the correction.

The correction impacts the understanding of the reaction's energy dependence.

Abstract

As suggested in a Comment by Peters, Phys.\ Rev.\ C {\bf 96}, 029801 (2017), a correction is applied to the $^{13}$C($\alpha$,n)$^{16}$O data of Harissopulos {\it et al.}, Phys.\ Rev.\ C {\bf 72}, 062801(R) (2005). The correction refers to the energy-dependent efficiency of the neutron detector and appears only above the ($\alpha$,n$_1$) threshold of the $^{13}$C($\alpha$,n)$^{16}$O reaction at about $E_\alpha \approx 5$ MeV. The corrected data are lower than the original data by almost a factor of two. The correction method is verified using recent neutron spectroscopy data and data from the reverse $^{16}$O(n,$\alpha$)$^{13}$C reaction.