Abstract
In this work, the production of neutron-rich isotopes via neutron capture cascades in a singlecomponent target irradiated by pulsed laser-driven neutron sources is theoretically investigated. Two sets of nuclides are considered as the seed nuclei, the first set consisting of 7533As, 12651Sb, 17671Lu, 18775Re, 192 76Os, 22688Ra, 23391Pa, and 24495Am, and the second set comprising 17169Tm, 19377Ir, 19779Au, 22789Ac, and 25599Es. The laser-driven neutron sources used in our calculations are modeled after those proposed for Petawatt-class laser facilities and currently running inertial confinement fusion facilities. By investigating the enrichment of target nuclei with these two neutron sources in one and multiple pulses, we study the effects different numbers of neutrons per pulse and different repetition frequencies have on the resulting populations of neutronrich isotopes. We also study the maximal abundances that can be produced with such neutron sources by investigating different saturation conditions. The calculations are performed using cross section data from the ENDF/B-VIII.0 and the TENDL-2019 library, and the precision of our results, as well as the influence of different cross section data taken from NON-SMOKER on our results is studied too. Our results show that successive neutron capture of up to 4 neutrons are possible. This promises new experimental possibilities to produce neutron-rich isotopes and simulate neutron capture nucleosynthesis in the laboratory.
