Abstract
Excitation functions for the (α, p), (α, n), (α, pn), (α, 2n), (α, p2n+α, 3n), (α, αn), (α, αpn) and (α, α2n) reactions on Fe54 were measured by the activation method using a “stacked-foil” technique, the alpha-particle energies ranging from 10 MeV to 40 MeV. The predominance of proton emission over neutron emission has been observed. The ratios of σ(α, p)/σ(α, n) and σ(α, pn)/σ(α, 2n) in the region of maximum yield were found to be 3.4 and 60, respectively. The ratio of σ(α, αpn)/σ(α, α2n) at 40 MeV was about 180. A small “knee” was observed at the incident alpha-particle energy of about 20 MeV in the excitation function for the (α, 2n) reaction. The total reaction cross section was found to agree with the value calculated from continuum theory for a nuclear radius constant r0 of 1.7×10−13 cm assuming a nuclear square well potential.
