Global coupled-channel optical potential for nucleon-actinide interaction from 1 keV to 200 MeV

A coupled-channel method was used for the estimation of nucleon optical potential parameters for the actinide region based on the axial rigid-rotor model built on a saturated coupling scheme. A new global form of optical potential was proposed to incorporate energy dependences guided by physical principles. Best-fit potential parameters were searched for to reproduce experimental nucleon scattering angular distributions, low-energy observables (strength functions and scattering radii) and neutron total cross sections of 238U and 232Th. It was found that the present form of the optical potential could reproduce both the neutron- and proton-data for a wide energy range, namely from 1 keV to 200 MeV. Available experimental data for other actinides were also described to a good accuracy with the same set of parameters only by adjusting the deformation parameters for each nucleus