High-Resolution Measurements and Calculations of Photon-Production Cross Sections for16O(n,xγ) Reactions Induced by Neutrons with Energies between 4 and 200 MeV

High precision neutron inelastic cross sections on 16O

This work reports partial results of a (n, nγ) measurement on 16O. The γ rays of interest from the inelastic channel were detected using the Gamma Array for Inelastic Neutron Scattering (GAINS) spectrometer at the Geel Electron Linear Accelerator (GELINA) neutron source. A very thick (32.30(4) mm) SiO2 target was used. The main goal was to determine the angle-integrated γ-production cross section for the most important transitions. In this work we report the results for the main 16O transition and we emphasize a consistency check aiming to ensure data reliability. Our results are compared with theoretical calculations performed using the TALYS 1.8 code and with previously reported experimental data.