arXiv subjects

J. Moreno-Soto

Publications and source records attributed to J. Moreno-Soto.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Energy-differential measurement of the $^{\mathrm{nat}}$C(n,p) and $^{\mathrm{nat}}$C(n,d) reactions at the n_TOF facility at CERN

Energy-differential cross section of the $^{\mathrm{nat}}$C(n,p) and $^{\mathrm{nat}}$C(n,d) reactions was measured at the neutron time of flight facility n_TOF at CERN. The measurement was performed in the first experimental area (EAR1; flight path of 182.5 m). Two position-sensitive $ΔE$-$E$ silicon telescopes were used. Two naturally occurring carbon isotopes, $^{12}$C and $^{13}$C, contribute to the reactions on natural carbon, with the (n,p) reaction threshold at 13.7 MeV and the (n,d) threshold at 14.9 MeV (determined by the $^{12}$C isotope for both reactions). This paper provides the details of the analysis leading to the final results published previously as a Letter. The cross section results are reported up to 25 MeV. During the data analysis the population of the excited states in the daughter nuclei $^{11}$B, $^{12}$B, $^{13}$B had to be considered, requiring the adoption of the branching ratios and angular distributions of the emitted particles from an external source of information. TALYS-2.0 calculations were used as the main source and an in-depth analysis of the model-related uncertainties was performed. The n_TOF results are largely inconsistent with the major evaluation libraries. On the other hand, an unexpected agreement is found with TALYS-2.0 calculations. Specifically, the obtained cross section for the (n,p) reaction is significantly higher than in the available evaluations, fully supporting the earlier finding from an integral measurement at n_TOF.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2025

Measurement of the $^\text{nat}$C(n,p) and $^\text{nat}$C(n,d) reactions from n_TOF at CERN

The energy dependence of the cross section of the (n,p) and (n,d) reactions on $^\text{nat}$C has been studied for the first time at the n_TOF facility at CERN, from the particle detection threshold up to 25 MeV. The measurement was performed with two telescopes made of position-sensitive silicon $ΔE$-$E$ detectors, covering the angular range from 20° to 140°. A detector efficiency has been determined by means of Monte Carlo simulations of the experimental setup. Various assumptions on the angular distributions and branching ratios of the excited levels of the residual $^{11}$B, $^{12}$B, $^{13}$B nuclei were considered. In particular, theoretical calculations based on the TALYS-2.0 code were used and the systematic uncertainties in the analysis results were determined from the variations in these distributions. The n_TOF data on the (n,p) and (n,d) reaction on carbon are characterized by a higher accuracy and wider energy range than currently available in literature. A comparison with current evaluations from different libraries reveals a rather significant disagreement with the n_TOF results, while a remarkable agreement is observed with the prediction of TALYS-2.0 for this light element.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2020

Imaging neutron capture cross sections: i-TED proof-of-concept and future prospects based on Machine-Learning techniques

i-TED is an innovative detection system which exploits Compton imaging techniques to achieve a superior signal-to-background ratio in ($n,γ$) cross-section measurements using time-of-flight technique. This work presents the first experimental validation of the i-TED apparatus for high-resolution time-of-flight experiments and demonstrates for the first time the concept proposed for background rejection. To this aim both $^{197}$Au($n,γ$) and $^{56}$Fe($n, γ$) reactions were measured at CERN n\_TOF using an i-TED demonstrator based on only three position-sensitive detectors. Two \cds detectors were also used to benchmark the performance of i-TED. The i-TED prototype built for this study shows a factor of $\sim$3 higher detection sensitivity than state-of-the-art \cds detectors in the $\sim$10~keV neutron energy range of astrophysical interest. This paper explores also the perspectives of further enhancement in performance attainable with the final i-TED array consisting of twenty position-sensitive detectors and new analysis methodologies based on Machine-Learning techniques.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2019

Review and new concepts for neutron-capture measurements of astrophysical interest

The idea of slow-neutron capture nucleosynthesis formulated in 1957 triggered a tremendous experimental effort in different laboratories worldwide to measure the relevant nuclear physics input quantities, namely ($n,γ$) cross sections over the stellar temperature range (from few eV up to several hundred keV) for most of the isotopes involved from Fe up to Bi. A brief historical review focused on total energy detectors will be presented to illustrate how, advances in instrumentation have led, over the years, to the assessment and discovery of many new aspects of $s$-process nucleosynthesis and to the progressive refinement of theoretical models of stellar evolution. A summary will be presented on current efforts to develop new detection concepts, such as the Total-Energy Detector with $γ$-ray imaging capability (i-TED). The latter is based on the simultaneous combination of Compton imaging with neutron time-of-flight (TOF) techniques, in order to achieve a superior level of sensitivity and selectivity in the measurement of stellar neutron capture rates.

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