Activation cross section for 85Rb(n,2n)84mRb and 85Rb(n,p)85mKr reactions with uncertainty propagation and covariance analysis

Abstract The cross section of 85 Rb(n,2n) 84m Rb and 85 Rb(n,p) 85m Kr reactions were measured at neutron energy range 12–20 MeV using activation analysis followed by off-line γ-ray spectroscopic technique. The quasi mono-energetic neutrons were produced through 7 Li(p,n) 7 Be reaction. The measurements were done relative to 27 Al(n,α) 24 Na reference monitor reaction cross section. The detailed uncertainty propagation from the attributes present in measurements was performed using covariance analysis. The γ-ray self-attenuation and background low neutron energy corrections were performed in the measurement studies. Theoretical calculations were performed by TALYS-1.96 nuclear code. The comparison of measured values with the available data in EXFOR database and evaluated data from JENDL-5 and EAF-2010 shows the measured cross section values of 85 Rb(n,p) 85m Kr reaction were slightly higher than the published values, evaluated data and theoretical data while for 85 Rb(n,2n) 84m Rb, the measured values were consistent with the published data.