Determination Of Neutron Cross Sections And Resonance Parameters For Vanadium The Stable Thallium Isotopes And The Stable Tellurium Isotopes Progress Report October 1 1976 October 31 1977 PDF Download

Initial measurements by LLL and NBS of the ratio of the 186Os capture cross section to that of 187Os near 30 keV, provided a crucial input parameter for use of the Re-Os chronometer to estimate the duration of nucleosynthesis and hence the age of the universe. The resulting estimate of approx. = 20 billion years was much longer than the estimate from the only other method, U-Th dating. The Re-Os chronometer requires, however, not ratios of cross sections measured at laboratory temperatures, but rather the ratio appropriate to the stellar environment in which nucleosynthesis by the s-process occurs. Hence capture from low lying excited states is important. The capture cross section from the 9.75 keV first excited 187Os state must be calculated using Hauser--Feshbach calculations. These calculations require estimates of level densities, neutron transmission functions (for ground and excited states) and radiative transmission functions. These calculations can be experimentally checked by measurements of the total and inelastic cross sections near threshold. The inelastic experiment is particularly difficult because of the requirement of low background and relatively high efficiency for detection of approx. = 30 keV neutrons. A proton-recoil detector has been developed which appears to provide adequate efficiency and energy resolution. A novel filter composed of alternate layers of iron, aluminum and air has been designed to eliminate neutrons other than those in the 25 keV Fe and Al window. Major problems in background reduction persist and might be helped with a sample of 187Os of isotopic greater than that of the presently available 70% 187Os sample.