Obtaining a new empirical (n,2n) cross section formula using Flerov and Talyzin non-elastic cross sections at 14–15 MeV

The knowledge of (n,2n) cross sections is required in shielding and breeding calculations. It's also important, in nuclear reactor applications, for neutron dosimetry research. In nuclear reaction mechanism, (n,2n) reaction channel is the dominant reaction for medium and heavy mass nuclei at 14 MeV energy range. The empirical and semi-empirical (n,2n) reaction cross sections have been investigated by many authors, but theoretical calculations have not been adequate because of the character of the nuclear structure is not exactly known. In this work, a new empirical formula has been proposed to calculate the (n,2n) reaction cross sections at 14–15 MeV neutron incident energy. In the calculations different fitting method have been used to obtain cross-section formula for target nuclei in the range 14 ≤ A ≤ 241 mass number. The (n,2n) experimental cross sections have been taken from EXFOR nuclear data library. In this new formula, the Flerov and Talyzin expression for the inelastic cross section σne was used to fit the experimental (n,2n) cross sections. It has been observed that the obtained formulas give quite coherent results with the experimental data. •A new empirical formula has been proposed to calculate the (n,2n) reaction cross sections at 14–15 MeV neutron energy.•The σne non-elastic term fitted to experimental (n,2n) reaction cross sections using Flerov and Talyzin formula.•The asymmetry parameter s gives well-fitting results than the other variables (N, Z, A).