The surrogate reaction 238
IntroductionNeutron-induced reaction cross section data for radioactive nuclei are important for various basic and applied sciences [1, 2], however, target preparation for such studies is often complicated by material accessibility, availability, and radioactivity. The Surrogate Method provides access to such nuclear data indirectly [3]. In this method, the compound nucleus of a desired neutron-induced reaction is produced via a surrogate reaction and the decay probability of the compound nucleus to the desired exit channel, for example: fission, is measured experimentally by tagging on a fission event in coincidence with the ejected particle of the surrogate reaction, for example: 't' in the ( 3 He,t) reaction.Earlier work on the indirect determination of neutron-induced fission cross section was reported in the 1970s [4][5][6]. In recent years, there has been a renewed effort both in the forefront of theory and experiment to utilize indirect methods more effectively to address 2 nuclear data needs [7][8][9][10][11][12] MeV energy range.
The Surrogate MethodIn the Hauser-Feshbach formulation [14], the cross-section, σ αχ , for forming a compound nucleus (CN) via entrance channel α and its subsequent decay via exit channel χ ( 237 Np+n and fission, respectively here) can be expressed as:where E* , J, and π are the excitation energy, total angular momentum, and parity of the CN, σ α CN is the compound nuclear formation cross section via entrance channel α and CN G χ is the probability of the CN decay through exit channel χ. In the case for neutrons incident on 237 Np,