Thin liquid sample fabrication for neutron resonance spectroscopy

In neutron resonance spectroscopy, preparation of thin cylindrical samples of large diameter containing 10 - 4 – 10 - 5 atoms per barn of raw materials in powder form make pressing a uniform thickness sample difficult. The use of liquid samples is a suitable alternative to overcome the technical limits inherent to the fabrication of pressed solid samples by compaction methods. This paper presents the fabrication of a 2 mm thick cylindrical sample, with a inner diameter of 65 mm, filled with an aqueous solution of lithium iodide. The sample was designed to measure the low neutron energy range of the 127I total cross-section by means of the neutron resonance transmission technique. The resonance shape analysis provided results consistent with those obtained by measuring a 17.5 mm thick lead iodine sample under the same experimental conditions as for LiI sample. Such liquid sample could be used to repeat similar measurements on a large variety of stable isotopes and low radioactive materials.