Preparation and characterization of three 7Be targets for the measurement of the 7Be(n, p)7Li and 7Be(n, α )7Li reaction cross sections

This manuscript describes the production of three targets obtained by implantation of different activities of ⁷Be into thin aluminium disks. Two of the produced targets were used to measure the ⁷Be(n, p)⁷Li cross section in the energy range of interest for the Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis. A third target was used to measure the cross sections of ⁷Be(n, p)⁷Li and ⁷Be(n, $\alpha$)⁷Li nuclear reactions with cold and thermal neutrons, respectively. This paper describes also the characterization of the first two targets, performed after the neutron irradiation, in terms of implanted ⁷Be activities and spatial distributions.