Photonuclear reactions ${^{65}\rm{Cu}}(\gamma,n)^{64}\rm{Cu}$ and ${^{63}\rm{Cu}}(\gamma,xn)^{63-x}\rm{Cu}$ cross-sections in the energy range $E_{\rm{\gamma max}}$ = 35-94 MeV

TL;DR

This study measured bremsstrahlung flux-averaged cross-sections for several copper photonuclear reactions in the 35-94 MeV energy range, comparing experimental data with TALYS code predictions and providing new measurements for the ${^{63} m{Cu}}(\gamma,3n)$ reaction.

Contribution

First experimental measurement of flux-averaged cross-sections for ${^{63} m{Cu}}(\gamma,3n)$ reaction and comparison with theoretical TALYS predictions for multiple copper reactions.

Findings

Experimental cross-sections are higher than TALYS predictions for some reactions.

Data extend the existing measurements for photonuclear reactions in copper.

First measurements of ${^{63} m{Cu}}(\gamma,3n)$ cross-sections.

Abstract

The bremsstrahlung flux-averaged cross-sections $\langle{\sigma(E_{\rm{\gamma max}})}\rangle$ for the photonuclear reactions ${^{65}\rm{Cu}}(\gamma,n)^{64}\rm{Cu}$, ${^{63}\rm{Cu}}(\gamma,n)^{62}\rm{Cu}$, ${^{63}\rm{Cu}}(\gamma,2n)^{61}\rm{Cu}$ and ${^{63}\rm{Cu}}(\gamma,3n)^{60}\rm{Cu}$ have been measured in the range of bremsstrahlung end-point energies $E_{\rm{\gamma max}}$ = 35-94 MeV. The experiments were performed with the electron beam from the NSC KIPT linear accelerator LUE-40 with the use of the activation and off-line $\gamma$-ray spectrometric technique. The calculation of the flux-average cross-sections $\langle{\sigma(E_{\rm{\gamma max}})}\rangle_{\rm{th}}$ was carried out using the cross-section $\sigma(E)$ values from the TALYS1.95 code with the default options. It is shown that the experimental average cross-sections for the reactions ${^{65}\rm{Cu}}(\gamma,n)^{64}\rm{Cu}$, ${^{63}\rm{Cu}}(\gamma,n)^{62}\rm{Cu}$, ${^{63}\rm{Cu}}(\gamma,2n)^{61}\rm{Cu}$ are systematically higher than the theoretical estimates in the TALYS1.95 code. The obtained $\langle{\sigma(E_{\rm{\gamma max}})}\rangle$ supplement the data of different laboratories for the case of reactions $(\gamma,n)$ and $(\gamma,2n)$. For the reaction ${^{63}\rm{Cu}}(\gamma,3n)^{60}\rm{Cu}$, the values of $\langle{\sigma(E_{\rm{\gamma max}})}\rangle$ were measured for the first time.