出版社:SISSA, Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati
摘要:The neutron time of flight (n_TOF) facility at CERN is a neutron spallation source with a flight
path of 187.5m. Intense proton bunches fromthe CERN PS with an energy of 20 GeV, an intensity
of 7×1012 protons per pulse, and a pulse width of 6 ns are focused on a lead spallation module.
The white neutron energy spectrum produced in this way ranges from thermal to severalGeV, thus
covering the full energy range of interest for nuclear astrophysics, in particular for measurements
of the neutron capture cross sections required in s-process nucleosynthesis. The combination of
the long flight path of 187.5 m, which allows to perform time-of-flight measurements with very
high energy resolution in a low-background environment, with the extremely high instantaneous
neutron flux and the low repetition frequency of the proton beam is quite unique and perfectly
suited for measurements of neutron capture cross sections in general and on radioactive samples
in particular. This contribution gives an overview of the completed neutron capture studies on
isotopes of Mg, Zr, La, Sm, Os, Pb, and Bi. Further improvements and future plans for nuclear
astrophysics applications are addressed as well.