Production, separation and target preparation of Pm for neutron cross section measurements

Stephan Heinitz*, Emilio A. Maugeri, Dorothea Schumann, Rugard Dressler, Niko Kivel, Carlos Guerrero, Ullrich Köster, Moshe Tessler, Michael Paul, Shlomi Halfon

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Scopus citations

Abstract

The knowledge of the neutron capture cross sections of s-process branching point isotopes represents a basic requirement for the understanding of star evolution. Since such branching point isotopes are by definition radioactive, the measurement of their cross sections from thermal to stellar energies becomes a challenging task. Considerable amounts of material have to be produced, representing a significant radioactive hazard. We report here on the production and separation of 3.5 mg 171Tm from 240 mg 170Er2O3 and 72 μg 147Pm from 100 mg 146Nd2O3 irradiated at the ILL high flux reactor. Thin targets were prepared with high chemical and radioisotopic purity suitable for neutron capture measurements at n-TOF CERN and the SARAF-LiLiT facility.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)801-811
Number of pages11
JournalRadiochimica Acta
Volume105
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - 26 Oct 2017

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston 2017.

Keywords

  • Pm
  • Tm
  • Lanthanide separation
  • neutron capture cross section
  • radioactive target

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