Nitrogen-Induced Nuclear Reactions in Potassium

Excitation functions have been measured for the production of Fe⁵³, Fe⁵², Mn⁵², Mn⁵²ᵐ, Mn⁵¹, Cr⁴⁹, V⁴⁸, V⁴⁷, and Ti⁴⁵ from the nitrogen bombardment of potassium in its normal isotopic mixture. The method used was activation of thick targets of KBr followed by chemical separations and absolute beta-counting. The cross sections at 27.5 Mev range from 0.14 mb for Fe⁵² to 8.3 mb for Mn⁵¹. The relation of the Mn⁵²: Cr⁴⁹: Fe⁵² ratio to the odd-even effect in the nuclear level density is discussed. The total cross section for formation of the compound nucleus was estimated at several energies. The fraction of this total accounted for by one-particle emissions from the compound nucleus is surprisingly large.