Measurement of activation cross sections for quasi-monoenergetic neutron induced reactions of ⁸⁹Y

The neutron induced cross sections of the ⁸⁹Y(n, 2n)⁸⁸Y, ⁸⁹Y(n, 3n)⁸⁷Y and ⁸⁹Y(n, 4n)⁸⁶Y reactions were measured in the neutron energy range of 15.2 to 37.2 MeV by using an activation and off-line γ-ray spectrometric technique. The quasi-monoenergetic neutrons used for the above reactions are based on a ⁹Be(p, n) reaction. Simulations of the neutron spectra from the Be target were done using the MCNPX 2.6.0 program. Theoretical calculations were performed for the ⁸⁹Y(n, 2n)⁸⁸Y, ⁸⁹Y(n, 3n)⁸⁷Y and ⁸⁹Y(n, 4n)⁸⁶Y reaction cross sections using nuclear model code Talys 1.8. The measured and calculated cross sections were compared with the literature data given in EXFOR and the TENDL-2015 data libraries. The present data of the ⁸⁹Y(n, xn) reaction were also compared with the similar data of the ⁸⁹Y(γ, xn) reaction to examine the effect of the entrance channel parameters as well as the role of projectiles and ejectiles. (orig.)