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Neutron Total Cross Section of Curium-248
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1974
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Experimental Nuclear PhysicsNuclear PhysicsPhysicsEngineeringObserved ResonancesNuclear DataForty-seven ResonancesApplied PhysicsNuclear TheoryNatural SciencesAtomic PhysicsResonance IntegralsNuclear Quadrupole ResonanceAccelerator Mass SpectrometryNeutron SourceNeutron TransportNeutron ScatteringNuclear Engineering
The neutron total cross section for 248Cm has been measured from 0.5 to 3000 eV using the Oak Ridge electron linear accelerator (ORELA) as a pulsed neutron source. The cylindrical samples of small diameter (1.6 to 4.0 mm) contained up to 13 mg of 97% 248Cm and 3% 246Cm in the oxide form. Samples were cooled with liquid nitrogen to reduce Doppler broadening. The thickest sample had an inverse thickness for curium isotopes of 624 b/atom, which made possible the identification of forty-seven resonances attributable to 248Cm and five resonances attributable to 246Cm. The cross-section data have been analyzed to obtain single-level Breit-Wigner resonance parameters for all observed resonances. An average level spacing of 40 ± 5 eV and an average s-wave neutron strength function of (1.2 ± 0.2) × 10-4 were determined for 248Cm. The resonance contributions to the thermal capture cross sections and the resonance integrals determined from the resonance parameters are 248Cm, = 2.51 ± 0.26 b, Inγ = 259 ± 12 b; 246Cm, = 1.2 ± 0.4 b, Inγ = 101 ± 11 b. These values compare well with the results of integral measurements.