Experimental determination of the 41Ca(n,α)38Ar reaction cross section up to 80 keV, and calculation of the Maxwellian averaged cross section at stellar temperatures

Abstract

The 41Ca(n,α)38Ar reaction cross section was studied at the linear accelerator GELINA of the Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements in Geel (Belgium) and was determined up to a neutron energy of about 80 keV using the time-of-flight technique. In this energy region, 15 resonances were observed, whereas none were identified before. For some of them, resonance parameters such as resonance energy, total width, area, and spin could be determined. From the obtained cross-section data, Maxwellian average cross sections have been calculated at various stellar temperatures for further use in stellar models.