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Production of high-energy neutron beam from deuteron breakup

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Abstract

The deuteron breakup on heavy targets has been investigated in the framework of an improved quantum molecular dynamics model, focusing on the production of neutrons near zero degrees. The experimental differential cross sections of neutron production in the 102 MeV d+C reactions were reproduced by simulations. Based on the consistency between the model prediction and experiment, the feasibility of producing a neutron beam through the breakup of deuteron on a carbon target was demonstrated. Because of the nucleon Fermi motion inside the deuteron, the energy spectrum of the inclusive neutron near \(0^\circ\) in the laboratory exhibits considerable energy broadening in the main peak, whereas the long tail on the low-energy side is suppressed. By coincidentally measuring the accompanying deuteron breakup proton, the energy of the neutron can be tagged with an intrinsic uncertainty of approximately 5% (1\(\sigma\)). The tagging efficiency of the accompanying proton on the forward-emitted neutron can reach 90%, which ensures that the differential cross section in the (d,np) channel remains two orders higher than that in (p,n) after considering the measurement of accompanying protons. This enables the application of a well-defined energy neutron beam in an event-by-event scheme.

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Author notes

  1. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 11961141004, 11605119, 11965004, 12047567, and U1867212), and the Jiangsu Natural Science Fund Youth Project (No. BK20160304), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2017M621818), and the Ministry of Science and Technology (No. 2020YFE0202001).

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Radiation Medicine and Protection, Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, China

    Ren-Sheng Wang

  2. Collaborative Innovation Center of Radiological Medicine of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, Suzhou, 215123, China

    Ren-Sheng Wang

  3. College of Physics and Technology, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Nuclear Physics and Technology, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin, 541004, China

    Li Ou

  4. Department of Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Zhi-Gang Xiao

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  1. Ren-Sheng Wang
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  2. Li Ou
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  3. Zhi-Gang Xiao
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Ren-Sheng Wang, Li Ou and Zhi-Gang Xiao. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Zhi-Gang Xiao and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ren-Sheng Wang.

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Wang, RS., Ou, L. & Xiao, ZG. Production of high-energy neutron beam from deuteron breakup. NUCL SCI TECH 33, 92 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41365-022-01075-1

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