Neutron inelastic scattering and reactions in natural Pb as a background in neutrinoless double-{beta}-decay experiments

Journal Article · Fri May 15 04:00:00 EDT 2009 · Physical Review. C, Nuclear Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVC.79.054604· OSTI ID:21286955

Guiseppe, V E; Devlin, M; Elliott, S R; Fotiades, N; Hime, A; Nelson, R O; Perepelitsa, D V ^[1]; Mei, D -M ^[2]

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1. Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 (United States)
2. Department of Earth Science and Physics, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, South Dakota 57069 (United States)

Inelastic neutron scattering and reactions on Pb isotopes can result in {gamma} rays near the signature end-point energy in a number of {beta}{beta} isotopes. In particular, there are {gamma}-ray transitions in {sup 206,207,208}Pb that might produce energy deposits at the {sup 76}GeQ{sub {beta}}{sub {beta}} in Ge detectors used for 0{nu}{beta}{beta} searches. The levels that produce these {gamma} rays can be excited by (n,n{sup '}{gamma}) or (n,xn{gamma}) reactions, but the cross sections are small and previously unmeasured. This work uses the pulsed neutron beam at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center to directly measure reactions of interest to {beta}{beta}-decay experiments. The cross section on {sup nat}Pb to produce the 2041-keV {gamma} ray from {sup 206}Pb is measured to be 3.6 {+-} 0.7 (stat.) {+-} 0.3 (syst.) mb at {approx_equal}9.6 MeV. The cross section on {sup nat}Pb to produce the 3061,3062-keV {gamma} rays from {sup 207}Pb and {sup 208}Pb is measured to be 3.9 {+-} 0.8 (stat.) {+-} 0.4 (syst.) mb at the same energy. We report cross sections or place upper limits on the cross sections for exciting some other levels in Pb that have transition energies corresponding to Q{sub {beta}}{sub {beta}} in other {beta}{beta} isotopes.

• OSTI ID: 21286955
• Journal Information: Physical Review. C, Nuclear Physics, Journal Name: Physical Review. C, Nuclear Physics Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 79; ISSN 0556-2813; ISSN PRVCAN
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
CROSS SECTIONS
DOUBLE BETA DECAY
ENERGY-LEVEL TRANSITIONS
GAMMA RADIATION
GE SEMICONDUCTOR DETECTORS
INELASTIC SCATTERING
LEAD 206
LEAD 207
LEAD 208
MEV RANGE 01-10
NEUTRINOS
NEUTRON BEAMS
NEUTRON DIFFRACTION
NEUTRON REACTIONS
NEUTRONS
PARTICLE PRODUCTION