Measurement of thermal neutron capture cross-section and resonance integral for the 165Ho(n,γ)166gHo reaction by the activation method

The thermal neutron capture cross-section and resonance integral for the 165Ho(n,γ)166Ho reaction were measured experimentally by the activation method. Holmium oxide, manganese oxide and cobalt oxide powders, all dissolved in a mixture of hydrochloric acid and nitric acid, were irradiated within and without cadmium covers in the Tehran Research Reactor. The measured value of the thermal neutron cross-section relative to the 55Mn(n,γ)56Mn and 59Co(n,γ)60Co monitor reactions (with thermal neutron cross-section of 13.3 ± 0.1b and 37.18 ± 0.06b) was 58.6 ± 1.8b. The result was in a good agreement with the most previously reported values. Also the resonance integral was determined relative to the 55Mn(n,γ)56Mn and 59Co(n,γ)60Co monitor reactions with the reference value of 14.0 ± 0.3 and 75.9 ± 2.0, respectively. The measured resonance integral of the 165Ho(n,γ)166Ho reaction at the cadmium cut-off energy of 0.55 eV was 650 ± 31. The result was measured with high precision and compared with other measurements in the literature.