Differential cross section measurements of the 6.13 MeV gamma ray from proton-induced reaction of fluorine

Fundamental cross section measurements are essential for particle-induced gamma emission (PIGE) analysis. 19F(p,αγ2-0)16O can be utilized in PIGE analysis; however, differential cross section measurements for this reaction do not exist due to the difficulty in deconvolving overlapping peaks in the gamma spectrum. Although gamma yield measurements for this reaction exist (Dababneh et al., 1993), these can only be used for relative measurements. This work presents the 6.13 MeV gamma production differential cross sections for the 19F(p,αγ2-0)16O reaction in the incident proton kinetic energy range of 837 to 1517 keV. The yield of the 6.13 MeV gamma was obtained by subtracting the contribution of the 7.12 MeV double escape peak using the experimentally-determined ratio of the escape peaks. The corrected yields were converted to differential cross sections, which are presented here for the first time, as a contribution to the current knowledge and utilization of PIGE techniques. © 2021 Elsevier B.V.