Instrumental Photon Activation Analysis with Short-Time Irradiation for Geochemical Research

This paper introduces instrumental photon activation analysis (IPAA) utilizing short-lived products of photonuclear reactions, mainly (γ, n) and (γ, p), initiated by bremsstrahlung from the MT-25 microtron. A rapid nondestructive IPAA method for geochemical major element analysis is introduced as a tool for the basic geochemical characterization of rocks. Procedures were developed and parameters such as beam energy and irradiation-decay-counting times optimized with a representative set of geochemical reference materials, and an optimized scheme was applied in analysis of various geological samples. A complete analytical scheme combined with long-time irradiation IPAA and the possibility of utilization of photoexcitation reactions (γ, γ′) are briefly outlined.

CROSS-SECTIONS OF PHOTONUCLEAR REACTIONS ON natМо TARGETS AT END-POINT BREMSSTRAHLUNG ENERGY UP TO Еγmax = 100 МeV

Experiments to determine the yields and bremsstrahlung flux-averaged cross-sections σ(Еγmax) of photonuclear reactions on the natural Mo targets were performed on the beam from the electron linear accelerator LUE-40 with the use of the γ-activation technique. The bremsstrahlung end-point energies were in the range Еγmax = 35…80 MeV. The bremsstrahlung quantum flux was calculated with the program GEANT4.9.2 and, in addition, was monitored using the 100Мо(γ, n)99Мо reaction. Calculations of the yields and average cross-sections σ(Еγmax) for photonuclear reactions on stable Mo isotopes were computed using the σ(Е) cross-sections from the TALYS1.95 code (for the level density model LD1). A comparison of experimental and calculated cross-sections σ(Еγmax) for reactions 92Мо(γ, 2n)90Мо and 92Мо(γ, pn)90Nb was performed.