The Yields of Radioactivities Induced by (γ, n) Reactions with 20 MeV Bremsstrahlung

Abstract

Abstract The yields of radioactivities resulting from the (γ, n) reactions on 37 elements covering the periodic table have been determined by means of 20 MeV linear accelerator bremsstrahlung and gamma-ray spectrometry. The yield values, as measured in the number of photodisintegrations per mole per roentgen for each of the (γ, n) reactions, increase in the main regularly with atomic number from 103 through 107 order of magnitude. Anomalously small yield values are obtained in the irradiation of the nuclides with neutron or proton number of the magic numbers. The present results permit studies of general behavior of the photoneutron reactions and of the application of their products to the photoactivation analyses of many elements distributed throughout the periodic table.