Neutron inelastic scattering measurements on $^{136}$Xe at $E_{n}$ = 0.7 to 100 MeV

TL;DR

This study measures neutron inelastic scattering on $^{136}$Xe across a broad energy range to improve background understanding and calibration in neutrinoless double beta decay experiments, providing new cross section data and potential calibration methods.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed measurements of neutron-induced gamma-ray production in $^{136}$Xe from 0.7 to 100 MeV, including a novel calibration gamma line.

Findings

Limits set on unobserved gamma rays relevant for $0 uetaeta$

Measured cross sections for multiple gamma-ray lines

Identification of the 1313 keV gamma as a calibration tool

Abstract

Experiments searching for neutrinoless double beta decay ($0\nu\beta\beta$) require precise energy calibration and extremely low backgrounds. One of the most popular isotopes for $0\nu\beta\beta$ experiments is $^{136}$Xe. In support of these experiments, the neutron inelastic scattering properties of this isotope have been measured at the GErmanium Array for Neutron Induced Excitations (GEANIE) at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center. Time-of-flight techniques are utilized with high-purity germanium detectors to search for inelastic scattering $\gamma$ rays for neutron energies between 0.7 and 100 MeV. Limits are set on production of yet-unobserved $\gamma$ rays in the energy range critical for $0\nu\beta\beta$ studies, and measurements are made of multiple $\gamma$-ray production cross sections. In particular, we have measured the production of the 1313 keV $\gamma$ ray which comes from the transition of the first-excited to ground state of $^{136}$Xe. This neutron-induced $\gamma$ line may be useful for a novel energy calibration technique, described in this paper.