Measurement of gamma-ray production cross sections for nuclear reaction 31P(p,pγ1-0)31P

Abstract In order to implement a standard free PIGE analysis of phosphorus, the cross section of the reaction 31 P(p,pγ 1-0 ) 31 P, γ 1 - 0 = 1266.1 k e V was measured for the proton energy range 2.6–4 MeV, with energy steps ranging from 1 keV on resonances to 10 keV off resonance. This data provides additional information in relation to previous works on this reaction, as a more detailed and extended (in energy) measurement was made. The results obtained in this work were compared within the common energy range with previous measurements. There is a fair agreement within the quoted uncertainties although a larger energy step was used by the other authors and some resonances were missed. Also, a validation was accomplished by introducing the measured excitation function in the ERYA code to calculate thick target phosphorus yields of Ca 3 (PO 4 ) 2 and comparing the calculated values with the corresponding measured yields and also with other thick target yields found in the literature. A good agreement was found.