Cross-section measurements for disintegrations produced by deuterons in the heavy elements

Abstract

The cross-sections have been measured for reactions produced by deuterons in platinum, gold, mercury, thallium, lead, bismuth, thorium and uranium, using deuterons of 9 MeV energy from the Cavendish cyclotron. The observed values of σ for the ( d, p ) reaction vary from 30 x 10 -27 cm. 2 for platinum to 5 x 10 -27 cm. 2 for uranium. The values for the ( d, n ) reaction are about one-fifth of those for the ( d, p ) reaction. Calculations of the cross-sections to be expected on theoretical grounds, have been made for two different values of the standard nuclear radius R 0 , namely, 2.0 x 10 -13 and 1.47 x 10 -13 cm. The experimental results are shown to favour the lower of these values.