GAMMA-RAY STUDIES USING DEUTERIUM-LOADED PHOTOGRAPHIC PLATES

Abstract

Deuterium-loaded nuclear emulsions have been used to study the γ-rays of neutron capture in sodium, chlorine, and cadmium, and the γ-rays following the β-decay of N16. Proton tracks caused by the photodisintegration of deuterium were measured, and from these the γ-ray energies were calculated. Several lines have been observed in the γ-ray spectra of neutron capture. The known energy of the 6.124 Mev. γ-ray following the decay of N16 (produced in the cooling water of the Chalk River pile) was used to calibrate the plates. A higher energy γ-ray from the decay of N16 was tentatively identified as corresponding to a transition from the 6.897 Mev. excited level of O16 to the ground state and was found to have one-seventh the intensity of the 6.124 Mev. γ-ray.