Measurement of the 241Am(n,2n) reaction cross section using the activation method

In the context of the nTOF Collaboration, the measurement of the cross section of the reaction 241Am(n,2n)240Am, has been performed, for the first time at neutron energies from 8.8 to 11.4 MeV, by the activation method, relative to the 27Al(n,a)24Na reaction reference cross section. The monoenergetic neutron beam was produced at the 5.5 MV TANDEM accelerator of NCSR ''Demokritos,'' by means of the 2H(d,n)3He reaction, using a deuterium filled gas cell. The radioactive target consisted of a 37 GBq 241Am source enclosed in a Pb container. After the end of the irradiation, the activity induced by the neutron beam at the target and reference, was measured off-line by a 56% relative efficiency, HPGe detector