Thick-target yield of 17.6MeV γ ray from the resonant reaction

High energy γ-ray plays an important role in the study of the nuclear industry and nuclear physics. (p,γ) resonant reaction is a classic way to produce quasi-monochromatic γ-ray. The determination of (p,γ) yield is an important prerequisite for using this γ-ray source to carry out subsequent work. In this work, the 7Li(p,γ)8Be resonant reaction at Ep = 441 keV is utilized to produce 17.6 MeV γ-ray using the 2 × 1.7 MV tandem accelerator at CIAE. The full yield curve is measured for the first time. The maximum thick-target-yield of 17.6 MeV γ-ray is determined to be (3.2 ± 0.2)×10−9 γ/p. This would lead to the γ-ray intensity of 2×108 /s when using 10 mA proton beam which has been typically available to date. This intensity is comparable to the one from the laser-Compton scattering facilities in operation. Thus can be used for study of photonuclear reactions.