Light Particle Production in Spallation Reactions Induced by Protons of 0.8-2.5 GeV Incident Kinetic Energy

Absolute production cross sections have been measured simultaneously for neutrons and light charged particles in 0.8-2.5 GeV proton induced spallation reactions for a series of target nuclei from aluminum up to uranium. The high detection efficiency both for neutral and charged evaporative particles provides an event-wise access to the amount of projectile energy dissipated into nuclear excitation. Various intra nuclear cascade plus evaporation models have been confronted with the experimental data showing large discrepancies for hydrogen and helium production.