Cross sections from 800 MeV proton irradiation of terbium

Terbium foils were irradiated with 800 MeV protons to ascertain the potential for production of lanthanide isotopes of interest in medical, astrophysical, and basic science research and to contribute to nuclear data repositories. Isotopes produced in the foil were quantified by gamma spectroscopy. Cross sections for 35 isotopes produced in the irradiation are reported and compared with predictions by the MCNP6 transport code using the CEM03.03, Bertini and INCL + ABLA event generators. Our results indicate the need to accurately consider fission and fragmentation of relatively light target nuclei like terbium in the modeling of nuclear reactions at 800 MeV. The predictive power of the code was found to be different for each event generator tested but was satisfactory for most of the product yields in the mass region where spallation reactions dominate. However, none of the event generatorsʼ results are in complete agreement with measured data.

► Terbium foils were irradiated with 800 MeV protons.
► Cross sections for production of 35 radionuclides were measured by gamma spectroscopy.
► Predictions of MCNP6 event generators are compared with measured yields to evaluate the codesʼ predictive power.