Activation Cross Sections for Reactions Induced by 14.7-MeV Neutrons on Natural Calcium and Enriched ⁴⁴Ca Targets

Using 14.7-MeV neutrons and gamma-ray spectroscopy with high-purity germanium detectors, the activation cross sections have been measured for the following nuclear reactions: (a) ⁴⁴Ca(n,p)⁴⁴K, = (39 ± 4) mb; (b) ⁴⁴Ca(n,np)⁴³K, = (3.0 ± 0.3) mb; (c) ⁴⁴Ca(n,)⁴¹Ar, = (31 ± 3) mb; (d) ⁴²Ca(n,p)⁴²K, = (138 ± 12) mb; (e) ⁴³Ca(n,p)⁴³K, = (90 ± 9) mb; and (f) ⁴⁸Ca(n,2n)⁴⁷Ca, = (613 ± 60) mb. A 98.6% enriched ⁴⁴Ca target was used for reactions (a), (b), and (c) and a natural calcium target for reactions (d), (e), and (f). These cross sections have been compared with some earlier published experimental values and with some results of calculations. The latter include those based on semiempirical formulas and those given by the preequilibrium plus compound-nucleus code GNASH. When applied to reactions (a), (d), (e), and (f), this code gives cross-section values that are consistently above the measured values.