Ionization Yield of the N¹⁴(n, p)C¹⁴ Reaction in Air

抄録

The ionization yield of the N¹⁴(n, p)C¹⁴ reaction produced by thermal neutrons in air was measured with a pulse ionization chamber. The uncorrected value of the reaction energy was obtained as 0.600±0.006 Mev. This value was corrected for columnar recombination and for the variation of W, the average energy to produce an ion pair, with particle energies. For the variation of W_α, the empirical formula obtained in the previous work was used. Assuming that W_p is equal to W_α for the same velocity and that the relative value of W_C with respect to Po alpha particles is 1.10, the corrected reaction energy was calculated as 0.621±0.006 Mev in good agreement with the established Q value. This result indicates that W_p for about 600 kev is actually equal to W_α for the same velocity in air. Some evidences, which suggest that the relative value of W_C is about 1.10 and W_α for the same velocity as C¹⁴ is probably equal to this value, were also discussed.