Measurement of ⁸⁸Y Neutron Capture Cross Section with the Surrogate Reaction Method

The unstable nuclear neutron reaction cross section data are valuable in a number of fields, however, it is difficult to make direct measurements due to factors such as difficulty in target preparation. The neutron reaction cross section can be measured indirectly by using the theoretical calculation combining with the surrogate reaction experiment result which produces the same compound nucleus(CN) as the target reaction does. Based on this theory, we use ⁸⁹Y(p,p’)⁸⁹Y instead of ⁸⁸Y(n,γ)⁸⁹Y to determine the cross section of ⁸⁸Y(n,γ) through the use of UNF program and Weisskopf-Ewing limit combining with the γ relative decay probability from the p-γ coincidence measurement of the cascade γ decay of the CN ⁸⁹Y^*.