Cross sections and gamma cascades in ⁷⁷Ge needed for background reduction in 0ν β β experiments on ⁷⁶Ge

The compound nucleus model is employed to calculate neutron capture on ⁷⁶ 76 Ge and the consecutive γ γ decay. Total, inelastic and capture cross sections are compared to experiments in order to restrict model parameters. The respective γ γ cascades are analyzed for possible background suppression schemes in future 0ν β β 0 ν β β decay searches with germanium detectors. Neutron energies in the range from 0.2 keV to 5 MeV are investigated. The spin dependence of the γ γ cascades is proposed to be employed for determining the spin of thermal resonances.