Investigation of the thermal 26Al(n,pi)26Mg and 26Al(n,αi)23Na reactions Original Research Article

A homogeneous deposit of (2.58±0.12)×101726Al atoms was produced applying the method of electrodeposition. With this target, the 26Al(nth,pi)26Mg and the 26Al(nth,αi)23Na reactions were studied at the high flux reactor of the ILL in Grenoble. Thermal cross section values for five transitions were obtained. The value for the 26Al(nth, p0)26Mg cross section, (8.1±0.8) mb, is a factor 3 lower than reported in the literature. For the 26Al(nth, p1)26Mg cross section, a value of (1942±95) mb was found, which is in reasonable agreement with the literature values. The result obtained for the 26Al(nth, p2)26Mg cross section, (17±4) mb, lies more than a factor 10 below the upper limit reported. A cross section value for the 26Al(nth,α0)23Na reaction of (261±13) mb was found, which is more than a factor 3 lower than reported in the literature. The 26Al(nth,α1)23Na reaction finally was observed for the first time resulting in an accurate cross section value of (74±4) mb.