Measurement of alpha induced reaction cross-sections on $^{nat}$Mo with detailed covariance analysis

Abstract

In the present study we have measured the excitation functions for the nuclear reactions $^{100}$Mo($\alpha$,n)$^{103}$Ru, $^{nat}$Mo($\alpha$,x)$^{97}$Ru, $^{nat}$Mo($\alpha$,x)$^{95}$Ru, $^{nat}$Mo($\alpha$,x)$^{96g}$Tc, $^{nat}$Mo($\alpha$,x)$^{95g}$Tc and $^{nat}$Mo($\alpha$,x)$^{94g}$Tc in the energy range 11-32 MeV. We have used the stacked foil activation technique followed by off-line gamma ray spectroscopy technique to measure the excitation functions. In this study we have also documented detailed uncertainty analysis for these nuclear reactions and their corresponding covariance matrix are also presented. The excitation functions are compared with the available experimental data from EXFOR data library and the theoretical prediction from TALYS nuclear reaction code. The present measurements are found to be consistent with the available experimental data.