Measurement of radiative α-capture cross sections on 98Ru and 144Sm for γ-process nucleosynthesis. (October 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Scholz, P.; Wilsenach, H.; Blazhev, A.; Becker, H.-W.; Heim, F.; Fotinou, V.; Giesen, U.; Körschgen, M.; Müller, M.; Zell, K.O.; Zilges, A.; Zuber, K.
• Is Part Of: Journal of physics. Volume 1668(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-10
• Subjects: Physics -- Congresses; 530.5
• DOI: 10.1088/1742-6596/1668/1/012036
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1742-6588

Abstract

Abstract: Since p isotopes cannot be produced in neutron-capture reaction networks, a production mechanism via photodisintegration reactions was proposed - the γ process. The specifc path of this reaction network, however, depends strongly on the statistically averaged ratios for proton-, neutron-, and α -decay widths. It was shown in the past, that the uncertainties in the α -decay widths have an impact on the isotopic abundance of the γ -process ashes. Besides systematic studies of the α +nucleus optical-model potential, direct measurements of (α, γ) reaction are needed to reduce the unpredictability of ( γ, α ) reaction rates. We present preliminary results from direct measurements of the 98 Ru( α, γ ) and 144 Sm( α, γ ) cross sections via in-beam measurements at the University of Cologne and the Ruhr-Universität Bochum and activation experiments at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt in Braunschweig and the Technische Universität Dresden. The in-beam experiment might help to improve our understanding of the γ -process contribution to the p nuclei in the A ∼ 100 mass region, while the activation experiment is important for the determination of the initial isotopic abundance ratio of the 146 Sm/ 144 Sm chronometer.