Damage production by high-energy d-Be neutrons in Cu, Nb, and Pt at 4.2 °K

Abstract

Electrical resistivity measurements have been used to observe damage production rates for Cu, Nb, and Pt irradiated with high‐energy d‐Be neutrons at 4.2 °K. The neutrons were generated at the Oak Ridge Isochronous Cyclotron by the reaction of 40‐MeV deuterons incident on a thick Be target. The resulting neutron energy spectrum was broadly peaked near 15 MeV. Damage production was proportional to fluence up to 4×10¹⁵ n/cm², and was approximately three times greater than for the same fluence of fission neutrons in these materials. This result is in good agreement with predictions based on damage energy calculations.