Consistent account of deuteron-induced reactions on nat Cr up to 60 MeV.

Background: Specific noncompound processes such as breakup (BU) and distinct direct reactions (DR) make deuteron-induced reactions different from reactions with other incident particles. Significant discrepancies with measured cross sections were caused by taking into account only the pre-equilibrium emission (PE) and compound-nucleus (CN) mechanisms while microscopic calculation of inclusive BU and DR cross sections is still investigated numerically. Thus, reaction cross sections recommended most recently for high-priority elements are still based on data fit. Purpose: Accurate new measurements of low-energy deuteron-induced reaction cross sections for natural Cr target can enhance the related database and the opportunity for a unitary and consistent account of the involved reaction mechanisms. Methods: The activation cross sections of 51, 52, 54 Mn, 51 Cr, and 48 V nuclei for deuterons incident on natural Cr at energies up to 20 MeV were measured by the stacked-foil technique and high resolution γ spectrometry using the U-120M cyclotron of the Center of Accelerators and Nuclear Analytical Methods (CANAM) of the Nuclear Physics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences (NPI CAS). They, as well as formerly available data for deuteron interactions with Cr isotopes up to 60 MeV, are the object of an extended analysis of all processes from elastic scattering until the evaporation from a fully equilibrated compound system, but with particular attention given to the BU and DR mechanisms. Results: The new measured activation excitation functions proved essential for the enrichment of the deuteron database, while the theoretical analysis of all available data strengthens for the first time their consistent account, provided that a suitable BU and DR assessment is completed by the assumption of PE and CN contributions corrected for decrease of the total-reaction cross section due to the leakage of the initial deuteron flux towards BU and DR processes. Conclusions: The suitable description of nuclear mechanisms involved within deuteron-induced reactions on chromium, taking into account especially the BU and DR direct processes, is validated by an overall agreement of the calculated and measured cross sections, including particularly the new experimental data at low energies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]