Angular Distribution of 2.5-Mev Neutrons Scattered by Deuterium

Abstract

The angular distribution of the scattering by deuterium of 2.5-Mev neutrons was measured by analyzing the distribution in energy of the recoiling deuterons in an ionization chamber. In the center of mass system the differential cross section exhibits a maximum for backward scattering of the neutron. The value at the maximum is more than twice the value at angles near 90\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}. Neutron-proton scattering observed under similar conditions showed a departure of not more than 10 percent from isotropic scattering.