Measurement of proton induced thick target γ-ray yields on B, N, Na, Al and Si from 2.5 to 4.1 MeV

Thick target yields for proton induced γ-ray emission (PIGE) on low-Z nuclei, namely B, N, Na, Al and Si, were measured for proton energies from 2.5 to 4.1 MeV and emission angles of 0°, 45° and 90°, at the 3 MV Tandetron laboratory of INFN-LABEC in Florence. The studied reactions were: 10B(p,α′γ)7Be (Eγ = 429 keV), 10B(p,p′γ)10B (Eγ = 718 keV) and 11B(p,p′γ)11B (Eγ = 2125 keV) for boron; 14N(p,p′γ)14N (Eγ = 2313 keV) for nitrogen; 23Na(p,p′γ)23Na (Eγ = 441 and 1636 keV) and 23Na(p,α′γ)20Ne (Eγ = 1634 keV) for sodium; 27Al(p,p′γ)27Al (Eγ = 844 and 1014 keV) and 27Al(p,α′γ)24Mg (Eγ = 1369 keV) for aluminum; 28Si(p,p′γ)28Si (Eγ = 1779 keV) and 29Si(p,p′γ)29Si (Eγ = 1273 keV) for silicon. The PIGE thick target yields have been measured with an overall uncertainty typically better than 10%. The use of the measured thick target yield to benchmark and validate experimental cross sections available in the literature is demonstrated.