Systematics for (n, 2n) excitation functions in the neutron energy between 13.4 and 14.9 MeV

A systematics of (n, 2n) partial excitation functions was studied on the basis of our 58 sets of experimental data measured using intense neutron source facilities of FNS at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency and of OKTAVIAN at Osaka University. The empirically predictive formulas based on the evaporation theory are applicable for the neutron energy between 13.4 and 14.9 MeV, and in the mass range between 14 and 238. About 83% of the cross sections and the slopes of excitation functions can be reproduced within an uncertainty of 15%. The formulas were expressed in terms of a mass number A, an asymmetry parameter S = (N − Z)/A, and threshold energies of the (n, 2n) and (n, 3n) reactions, where N and Z are the neutron and proton numbers for the target nuclei, respectively. The excitation functions were well reproduced for the nuclei in the region with S < 0.05 and 14 ⩽ A ⩽ 58 for the first time. The general characteristics of the excitation functions, consisting of steep rising in the light mass nuclei, gently-sloping or nearly flat in the middle and heavy mass nuclei, and slow falling in the heavy mass regions with possible (n, 3n) reactions, are well expressed.