The interplay between the ²²Ne(α,γ)²⁶Mg and the competing ²²Ne(α,n)²⁵Mg reactions determines the efficiency of the latter as a neutron source at the temperatures of stellar helium burning. In both cases, the rates are dominated by the α-cluster resonance at 830 keV. This resonance plays a particularly important role in determining the strength of the neutron flux for both the weak and main s-process as well as the n-process. Recent experimental studies based on transfer reactions suggest that the neutron and γ-ray strengths for this resonance are approximately equal. In this study, the ²²Ne(α,n)²⁵Mg resonance strength has been remeasured and found to be similar to the previous direct studies. This reinforces an 830 keV resonance strength that is approximately a factor of three larger for the ²²Ne(α,n)²⁵Mg reaction than for the ²²Ne(α,γ)²⁶Mg reaction.
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Islam et al. (2024) studied this question.
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