Coincidence measurement setup for PGAA and nuclear structure studies.

A second cold-neutron beam experimental station has been built as part of the renewal of the PGAA facility of the Budapest Research Reactor. This new station has been instrumented for neutron-induced prompt gamma-ray spectroscopy, involving gamma-gamma coincidence measurements. The experimental setup is discussed, and its performance and our data analysis method in a case of a radioactive source coincidence experiment are presented.

Improvement of the capabilities of PGAA by coincidence techniques.

Applicability of the gamma-gamma regional coincidence method to prompt gamma activation analysis has been examined in a series of model experiments. It is shown that the requirement of coincidence with a spectral range instead of a single peak greatly improves the signal to background ratio, yet preserves the linear relationship between concentration and analytical signal. The method is especially suitable for trace analysis of solutions containing hydrogen, and of matrices containing boron or other strong single gamma-ray emitters.

The new prompt gamma-ray catalogue for PGAA.

A new catalogue of subthermal neutron-induced prompt gamma rays has been created for 79 elements, from hydrogen to uranium (including fission), on the basis of recent measurements at the Budapest guided-neutron PGAA facility. New energy values have been measured using 35Cl neutron-capture gamma rays, while the gamma-ray production cross-sections have been determined with respect to the 1H thermal capture cross-section. The elemental data have been compared with thermal neutron-capture data for individual nuclides from the Evaluated Nuclear Structure Data File, ENSDF, hence isotope identifications could be made.