Observation of 12C(d,p)13C and 12C(d,d)12C reactions cross sections enhancement at MeV energy

Abstract

We report an unexpected observation of ¹²C(d,p)¹³C and ¹²C(d,d)¹²C cross sections enhancement at 1200 keV incident energy. Both enhancement and lowering of the reactions yields were observed when (C₂H₄)n polymer was irradiated with low beam intensity. Enhancement factors of 2.50±0.05 and 1.13±0.02 were obtained respectively for diffusion and nuclear reaction cross sections.

These results were obtained using a different experimental method than the usually employed which consists of irradiating (C₂H₄)n target and recording the energy spectra in a single experiment, minimizing then experimental errors. A qualitative description involving nuclear processes is suggested in an attempt to understand the obtained results.

We believe that these findings may contribute to provide insight to understanding the published suggestions concerning the involvement of target effects in screening phenomenon.