[en] The newly developed elemental analysis technique Neutron Resonance Capture Analysis (NRCA) was verified by analyzing a prehistoric bronze arrowhead with both NRCA and Instrumental Activation Analysis (INAA). In NRCA, elements are identified through their neutron resonance capture energies as determined through detection of prompt capture gamma-rays as a function of time of flight. The quantification is obtained from the resonance peak areas. Corrections are required for neutron-energy-dependent dead time and self-shielding, the latter also depending on Doppler broadening. The analysis program REFIT, of which the intended use is the determination of the resonance parameters, was used to this end. The agreement observed between INAA and NRCA results indicates that the NRCA results obtained are accurate

[en] Applications of gamma-ray spectroscopy with ppm resolving power are presented. The extraordinary resolution allows via the Gamma Ray Induced Doppler broadening (GRID) technique to determine lifetimes of excited nuclear levels. This has contributed to important nuclear structure information. We report on the current status of the technique

[en] The present review deals with neutron capture investigation performed in Gelina in recent years, which can be grouped in the following fields: 1) Capture data for the nuclear energy programme. The capture cross section of long lived fission products and minor actinides which are of interest for transmission purposes are measured. The investigation of ⁹⁹Tc has almost been completed, while that of ²³⁷Np is underway. The next candidate is ¹²⁹I whose sample is being prepared. Capture measurements of ²³²Th, of interest for the thorium fuel cycle, are underway. 2) Capture data for fundamental physics. For the purposes of parity violation in p-wave neutron resonances investigations spin and sometimes parity are obtained by measuring capture γ-ray spectra in single resonances. The investigated target isotopes are: ²³⁸U, ¹¹³Cd, ¹⁰⁷Ag, ¹⁰⁹Ag and ¹¹⁵In. 3)Capture data for nuclear physics. The investigations of point 2 combined with computer codes simulating the radiative γ-decay are used for deriving of information about E1 and M1 strength functions, level densities etc. This research is particularly pursued in Ag isotopes. A collaboration s set up for the measurement od two-step cascades induced by thermal neutron-capture in ¹⁰⁷Ag. 4)Capture data for nuclear astrophysics. For the s-processes the cross-section od most stable nuclei (below 100 or 200 keV) are needed. It is an energy range which can be studies with high resolution on the facility. In recent years target nuclei such as ²⁰⁷Pb, ²⁰⁸Pb, ²⁰⁹Bi, ⁸⁴Kr and ⁸⁶Kr have been studied. This paper concentrates on points 2 and 3 as far as silver isotopes are concerned, and on point 4 limited to the Pb and Bi isotopes

[en] To obtain the highest possible resolution has always been a major challenge in high resolution γ-ray spectroscopy, using crystal diffraction at the Institut Laue Langevin (ILL), Grenoble. About a quarter of a century ago the very first measurements at ILL started with a resolution already sensibly better than the one which could be obtained with solid state detectors. To date γ-rays emitted after neutron capture can be recorded with unprecedented and unequaled resolving power. In the context of this meeting some key experiments, carried out in the last 25 years, will be discussed. Finally we will try to evaluate where the emphasis might be in the upcoming years

[en] The present paper reports on the development of a new digital front-end electronics for position sensitive ³He neutron detectors. The classical analog approach for the charge readout, consisting of a shaping amplifier coupled with a peak sensing ADC, has been replaced by a 64 channels, 62.5 Msample/s and 12 bit digitiser. Excellent results have been obtained in terms of position resolution and signal to noise ratio when adopting a continuous digital filtering and gaussian shaping. (author)

[en] Some aspects of neutron-induced gamma-ray spectroscopy studies, as currently carried out at the high-flux reactor of the Institut Laue Langevin (ILL), are discussed. Neutron-induced fission allows us to study very neutron-rich nuclei, using in-pile and external target arrangements, respectively. The use of high-resolution crystal spectrometers allows investigations of gamma rays with ppm resolution

[en] High-resolution neutron capture cross-section measurements on ⁶⁰Ni have been performed at the Geel Linear Accelerator in the energy range from 1 to 450 keV. An experimentally determined weighting function, obtained by a total energy detection set-up, has been applied to the measured capture spectra. The parameters of 275 resonances have been determined in a recent reanalysis using the FANAC R-matrix shape fitting code. Accurate values of the maxwellian-averaged capture cross section for stellar temperatures ranging from kT=5 to 100 keV, corresponding to different scenarios of s-process stellar nucleosynthesis, have been calculated. The distributions of partial radiative widths for s- and p-wave resonances have been derived. A correlation of 0.64 between capture and reduced neutron widths is compatible with the presence of nonstatistical effects in the capture of ⁶⁰Ni

[en] Presently a common characteristic trend in low and medium energy nuclear physics is to develop complex detector systems to form multi-detector arrays. In view of this complexity, the front-end electronics must provide precise information about amplitude, time, detection position and possibly pulse shape. The large multiplicity of the detection system requires the capability to process the multitude of signals from many detectors, fast processing and very high throughput of more than 10⁶ data words/sec. The possibility of handling such a complex system using traditional analogue electronics has shown rapidly its limitation due, first of all, to the non negligible cost per channel and, moreover, to the signal degradation associated with complex analogue path. Nowadays, digital pulse processing systems are available, with performances, in terms of timing and energy resolution, equal if not better than the corresponding analogue ones for a fraction of the cost per channel. The presented system uses a combination of a 15-bit 100 MS/s digitizer with a Power-PC-based VME single board computer. Real-time processing algorithms have been developed to handle total event rates of more than 1 MHz, providing on-line display for single and coincidence events. (authors)

[en] The increasing complexity of the experimental activity and the growing raw dataset collected during the measurements pushed the integration of the data reduction softwares within the instrument control. On-line raw data reduction allows users to take instant decisions based on the physical quantities they are looking for. In such a way, beam time is optimise avoiding oversampling. Moreover, the datasets are more consistent and the reduction procedure, becoming now part of the sequencer workflow, is well documented and can be saved for future use. We will report on the implementation of the on-line data reduction on several instrument at the ILL as well as on the obtained performances. (author)

[en] The acquisition master control board is designed to assemble the various acquisition modes in use at the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL). The main goal is to make the card common for all the ILL's instruments in a simple, modular and open way, giving the possibility to add new functionalities in order to follow the evolving demand. It has been necessary to define a central element to provide synchronization to the rest of the units. The backbone of the proposed acquisition control system is the denominated master acquisition board. The master board consists on a VME64X configurable high density I/O connection carrier board based on the latest Xilinx Virtex-6T FPGA. The internal architecture of the FPGA is designed as a Network on Chip (NoC) approach. The complete system also includes a display board and n histogram modules for live display of the data from the detectors. (authors)