Inelastic neutron scattering studies of Ge-76 and Se-76: relevance to neutrinoless double-beta decay

Conference · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 2015

OSTI ID:1261453

Crider, Ben ^[1]; Peters, Erin ^[1]; Ross, T. J. ^[1]; McEllistrem, M ^[1]; Prados-Estevez, F. ^[1]; Allmond, James M ^[2]; Vanhoy, J. R. ^[3]; Yates, S. W. ^[1]

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1. University of Kentucky, Lexington
2. ORNL
3. U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis

Inelastic neutron scattering measurements were performed at the University of Kentucky Accelerator Laboratory on enriched Ge-76 and Se-76 scattering samples. From measurements at incident neutron energies from 2.0 to 4.0 MeV, many new levels were identified and characterized in each nucleus; level lifetimes, transition probabilities, multipole mixing ratios, and other properties were determined. In addition, gamma-ray cross sections for the Ge-76(n,n'gamma) reaction were measured at neutron energies up to 5.0 MeV, with the goal of determining the cross sections of gamma rays in 2040-keV region, which corresponds to the region of interest in the neutrinoless double beta decay of Ge-76. Gamma rays from the three strongest branches from the 3952-keV level were observed, but the previously reported 2041-keV gamma ray was not. Population cross sections across the range of incident neutron energies were determined for the 3952-keV level, resulting in a cross section of similar to 0.1 mb for the 2041-keV branch using the previously determined branching ratios. Beyond this, the data from these experiments indicate that previously unreported gamma rays from levels in Ge-76 can be found in the 2039-keV region.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1261453
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English