THE GAMMA-NEUTRON CROSS SECTION FOR N¹⁴

Abstract

The reaction N 14 (γ,n)N 13 has been studied by irradiating dicyandiamide in the X-ray beam of a 25-Mev betatron and measuring the residual activity with a sodium iodide crystal system. The photoneutron cross section shows maxima at 11.7, 13.2, 15.2, 19.5, and 22.8 Mev, the last two being in the giant resonance region. The integrated cross section from threshold to the beginning of the giant resonance region is 1.8 Mev-mb, and this is compared with a recent theoretical prediction. During the course of the experiment, accurate measurements were made of the half-life of N 13 and it was found to be 9.93 ± 0.05 minutes.