Light charged particle and neutron production in proton- and α-particle-induced reactions on natSi at energies between 20 and 65 MeV Original Research Article

Inclusive cross sections (View the MathML source, View the MathML source, View the MathML source and σT) for the production of neutron and light charged particles induced by protons of 26.5, 48.5 and 62.9 MeV and alpha-particles of 25.4, 45.5 and 57.8 MeV on natSi targets have been measured. The secondary particles (p, d, t, 3He, α, 6Li, 7Li and 7Be) were detected at angles from 10° to 165° in steps of ±10° with respect to the beam axis. Neutrons emitted in these reactions were only recorded in coincidence with, at least, one detected light charged particle. A comparison of the proton- and neutron-induced reactions on Si at E=62 MeV shows evidence of charge independence of the nuclear force. The proton spectra from the two reactions scale as expected from the difference in proton–neutron and proton–proton quasi-free scattering cross sections. The new data are reproduced with moving source fits and are also compared with state-of-the-art nuclear reaction models. The codes used for this purpose, GNASH and TALYS, consider direct nuclear reactions as well as pre-equilibrium and compound nucleus emission, and were found to reproduce the general features of the experimental data, especially for the View the MathML source channel. More detailed comparisons with the data indicate that there is still room for improvement in these codes.