The12C(n,α) Reaction and the Kerma Factor for Carbon atEn= 14.1 MeV

Energy and angular distributions of alpha particles from the bombardment of carbon foils with 14.1-MeV neutrons were measured with a magnetic spectrometer. The observations included alpha particles with energies above 1 MeV emitted at angles between 19 and 135 deg. The cross section for alpha-particle emission obtained by integrating over emission angle was 402 ± 46 mb. From these data and from evaluations of the elastic and inelastic scattering cross sections, a kerma factor (energy deposition) of 1.84 ± 0.16 × 10−9 cGy·cm2 was deduced. The present cross section for the 12C(n,n′3α) reaction is much lower than previous measurements.