Angular Distribution of Fast Neutrons Scattered from Lead

Abstract

The elastic differential cross sections for the scattering of 1.0-, 3.7-, 5.0-, and 15.0-Mev neutrons from lead have been measured, using a minimum of experimental variables in order to investigate the behavior of these cross sections as a function of neutron energy. The scatterers were ring-shaped, permitting a scattering range between 10° and 150°. The neutrons were counted with ZnS—plastic scintillators. It was necessary to subtract the effects of inelastically scattered neutrons from the experimental results in order to arrive at the elastic cross sections. The results show the expected prominent variation in the width and height of the forward scattering peak and indicate that the number and direction of the secondary maxima of scattering are a prominent function of neutron energy.