Optimised neutron yield calculations from ($\alpha ,n$) reactions with the modified SOURCES4 code

Abstract

The sensitivity of underground experiments searching for rare events such as dark matter, neutrino interactions or several beyond the standard model phenomena is often limited by the background caused by neutrons from spontaneous fission and ($\alpha ,n$) reactions. A number of codes exist to calculate neutron yields and energy spectra due to these processes. In this paper we present new calculations of neutron production using the modified SOURCES4A code with recently updated cross-sections for ($\alpha ,n$) reactions and the comparison of the results with available experimental data. The cross-sections for ($\alpha ,n$) reactions in SOURCES4 have been taken from reliable experimental data where possible, complemented by the calculations with EMPIRE 2.19/3.2.3, TALYS 1.96 or evaluated data library JENDL-5 where the data were scarce or unavailable.

arXiv commentVersion accepted for publication in Applied Radiation and Isotopes

References in corpus (24)

• Projected Sensitivity of the SuperCDMS SNOLAB experiment
• First Results from the DarkSide-50 Dark Matter Experiment at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso
• Projected WIMP sensitivity of the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) dark matter experiment
• Superconducting Detectors for Super Light Dark Matter
• Detecting Superlight Dark Matter with Fermi-Degenerate Materials
• The reaction 13C(alpha,n)16O: a background for the observation of geo-neutrinos
• Material screening and selection for XENON100
• Neutron background in large-scale xenon detectors for dark matter searches
• Low energy neutron propagation in MCNPX and GEANT4
• XENON1T Dark Matter Data Analysis: Signal Reconstruction, Calibration and Event Selection
• Evaluation of (alpha,n) Induced Neutrons as a Background for Dark Matter Experiments
• Background studies for the EDELWEISS dark matter experiment
• Radiogenic Neutron Yield Calculations for Low-Background Experiments
• WIMP Dark Matter Direct-Detection Searches in Noble Gases
• Calculation of neutron background for underground experiments
• Neutron production induced by $\alpha$-decay with Geant4
• Design and construction of a new detector to measure ultra-low radioactive-isotope contamination of argon
• Review of Novel Approaches to Organic Liquid Scintillators in Neutrino Physics
• Neutron production in (alpha, n) reactions
• Input Comparison of Radiogenic Neutron Estimates for Ultra-low Background Experiments
• Scintillation yield and time dependence from electronic and nuclear recoils in liquid neon
• Cryogenic characterization of a LiAlO${}_2$ crystal and new results on spin-dependent dark matter interactions with ordinary matter
• The Argon Dark Matter Experiment
• Measurements of the ${}^{27}\mathrm{Al}(\alpha ,n)$ Thick Target Yield Near Threshold

Cited by in corpus (1)

• ALPHANSO: Open-Source Modeling of ($\alpha$,n) Neutron Source Terms