22Ne(d,p)23Ne reaction and neutron balance in the s process

One possible source of neutrons for the astrophysical s process is the 22Ne(α,n)25Mg reaction. However, the number of neutrons available to synthesize heavy elements may be limited by the rate of the 22Ne(n,γ)23Ne reaction. To aid in the interpretation of recent (n,γ) measurements, we have used the 22Ne(d,p)23Ne reaction to investigate the single-particle structure of states located near the 22Ne+n threshold. No states that correspond to astrophysically significant resonances were found, and so the (n,γ) rate is effectively determined by direct capture