Abstract
Background: About 50% of the heavy elements are produced in stars during the slow neutron capture process. The analysis of branching points allows to set constraints on the temperature and the neutron density in the interior of stars. The temperature dependence of the branch point is weak. Hence, the neutron capture cross section can be used to constrain the neutron density during the main component of the s process in thermally pulsing asymptotic giant branch stars.
Purpose: In order to perform neutron capture experiments on , sample material has to be produced and characterized. The characterization is done by spectroscopy, relying on the intensities of the involved lines. Only the 66.7-keV line can be observed whose intensity was uncertain so far.
Method: An enriched sample was activated with thermal neutrons at the TRIGA (Training, Research, Isotopes, General Atomics) research reactor at the Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz. The activation resulted in an easily quantifiable number of nuclei that subsequently decayed to .
Result: The intensity of the 66.7-keV line of the decay was measured to .
Conclusions: Our result is in good agreement with the value found in the literature.
- Received 12 February 2018
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.97.035803
©2018 American Physical Society