Neutron induced capture and fission discrimination using calorimetric shape decomposition

The neutron capture and fission cross-sections of 233U have been measured at the neutron time-of-flight facility n_TOF at CERN in the energy range from 1 eV to 1 keV using a high performance 4π BaF2 Total Absorption Calorimeter (TAC) as a detection device. In order to separate the contributions of neutron capture and neutron induced fission in the TAC, a methodology called Calorimetric Shape Decomposition (CSD) was developed. The CSD methodology is based on the study of the TAC's energy response for all competing reactions, allowing to discriminate between γ s originating from neutron induced fission and those from neutron capture reactions without the need for fission tagging or any additional detection system. In this article, the concept behind the CSD is explained in detail together with the necessary analysis to obtain the TAC's response to neutron capture and neutron induced fission. The discrimination between capture and fission contributions is shown for several neutron energies. A comparison between the 233U neutron capture and fission yield extraction with ENDF/B-VII v1. library data is also provided.