Author:
Lerendegui-Marco J.,Babiano-Suárez V.,Balibrea-Correa J.,Domingo-Pardo C.,Ladarescu I.,Tarifeño-Saldivia A.,Alcayne V.,Cano-Ott D.,González-Romero E.,Martínez T.,Mendoza E.,Guerrero C.,Calviño F.,Casanovas A.,Köster U.,Chiera N. M.,Dressler R.,Maugeri E. A.,Schumann D.,Aberle O.,Altieri S.,Amaducci S.,Andrzejewski J.,Bacak M.,Beltrami C.,Bennett S.,Bernardes A. P.,Berthoumieux E.,Beyer R.,Boromiza M.,Bosnar D.,Caamaño M.,Calviani M.,Cerutti F.,Cescutti G.,Chiaveri E.,Colombetti P.,Colonna N.,Console Camprini P.,Cortés G.,Cortés-Giraldo M. A.,Cosentino L.,Cristallo S.,Dellmann S.,Di Castro M.,Di Maria S.,Diakaki M.,Dietz M.,Dupont E.,Durán I.,Eleme Z.,Fargier S.,Fernández B.,Fernández-Domínguez B.,Finocchiaro P.,Fiore S.,García-Infantes F.,Gawlik-Ramięga A.,Gervino G.,Gilardoni S.,Gunsing F.,Gustavino C.,Heyse J.,Hillman W.,Jenkins D. G.,Jericha E.,Junghans A.,Kadi Y.,Kaperoni K.,Kaur G.,Kimura A.,Knapová I.,Kokkoris M.,Krtička M.,Kyritsis N.,Lederer-Woods C.,Lerner G.,Manna A.,Masi A.,Massimi C.,Mastinu P.,Mastromarco M.,Mazzone A.,Mengoni A.,Michalopoulou V.,Milazzo P. M.,Mucciola R.,Murtas F.,Musacchio-Gonzalez E.,Musumarra A.,Negret A.,Pérez de Rada A.,Pérez-Maroto P.,Patronis N.,Pavón-Rodríguez J. A.,Pellegriti M. G.,Perkowski J.,Petrone C.,Pirovano E.,Plaza J.,Pomp S.,Porras I.,Praena J.,Quesada J. M.,Reifarth R.,Rochman D.,Romanets Y.,Rubbia C.,Sánchez-Caballero A.,Sabaté-Gilarte M.,Schillebeeckx P.,Sekhar A.,Smith A. G.,Sosnin N. V.,Stamati M. E.,Sturniolo A.,Tagliente G.,Tarrío D.,Torres-Sánchez P.,Vagena E.,Valenta S.,Variale V.,Vaz P.,Vecchio G.,Vescovi D.,Vlachoudis V.,Vlastou R.,Wallner A.,Woods P. J.,Wright T.,Zarrella R.,Žugec P.
Abstract
Neutron capture cross-section measurements are fundamental in the study of astrophysical phenomena, such as the slow neutron capture (s-) process of nucleosynthesis operating in red-giant and massive stars. However, neutron capture measurements via the time-of-flight (TOF) technique on key s-process nuclei are often challenging. Difficulties arise from the limited mass (∼mg) available and the high sample-related background in the case of the unstable s-process branching points. Measurements on neutron magic nuclei, that act as s-process bottlenecks, are affected by low (n,γ) cross sections and a dominant neutron scattering background. Overcoming these experimental challenges requires the combination of facilities with high instantaneous flux, such as n_TOFEAR2, with detection systems with an enhanced detection sensitivity and high counting rate capabilities. This contribution reviews some of the latest detector developments in detection systems for (n,γ) measurements at n_TOF, such as i-TED, an innovative detection system which exploits the Compton imaging technique to reduce the dominant neutron scattering background and s-TED, a highly segmented total energy detector intended for high flux facilities. The discussion will be illustrated with results of the first measurement of key the s-process branching-point reaction 79Se(n,γ).