New data were taken at the Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory to investigate the plausibility of using low energy deuterons and the ${}^{10}\mathrm{B}$$(d,n)$${}^{11}\mathrm{C}$ reaction as a portable source of 6.3 MeV neutrons. Analysis of the data at and below incident deuteron energies of 160 keV indicates an $n_0$ neutron cross section that is lower than previous estimates by at least three orders of magnitude. In separate runs, deuterons with two different energies (160 and 140 keV) were stopped in a ${}^{10}\mathrm{B}$ target. The resulting $n_0$ neutrons of approximately 6.3 MeV were detected at angles between $0^{°}$ and ${150}^{°}$. The angle integrated yields were used to determine the astrophysical $S$ factor for this reaction assuming a constant value for the $S$ factor below 160 keV. The cross sections reported between 130 and 160 keV were calculated using the extracted value of the $S$ factor. The measured $n_0$ cross section is several orders of magnitude smaller than previous results, thus eliminating ${}^{10}\mathrm{B}$$(d,n)$${}^{11}\mathrm{C}$ as a portable source of intense neutrons with low energy deuteron beams on the order of tens of microamps. In order to gain insight into the reaction dynamics at these low energies the cross section results have been compared with results from calculations using the distorted wave Born approximation (DWBA) and a detailed Hauser-Feshbach calculation performed by the authors. The angular distribution is consistent with the Hauser-Feshbach calculation suggesting a statistical compound nucleus reaction rather than a direct reaction.

• Received 13 March 2008

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.77.054607