Cross sections of the 57Fe(n, α)54Cr and 63Cu(n, α)60Co reactions in the MeV region

Cross sections of the Fe-57(n, alpha)Cr-54 reaction are measured for the first time, and those of the Cu-63(n, alpha)Co-60 reaction are measured in the megaelectron volt region by the direct experimental method. Experiments were performed at the 4.5-MV Van de Graaff Accelerator of Peking University. Monoenergetic neutrons ( 5.0, 5.5, 6.0, and 6.5 MeV) were produced through the H-2(d, n)He-3 reaction with a deuterium gas target. Measurements were carried out using a double-section-gridded ionization chamber and back-to-back double Fe-57 and Cu-63 samples. Foreground and background were measured in separate runs. A U-238 sample and a BF3 long counter were utilized for absolute neutron flux calibration and for neutron flux normalization, respectively. Present results are compared with TALYS-1.4 code predictions, existing measurements, and evaluations.