Measurement of cross sections and isomeric cross-section ratios for the (n, 2n) reactions on 196,198Hg at energies between 13 and 15 MeV

The (n, 2n) cross sections and their isomeric ratios (sigma(m)/sigma(g)) in the 13-15 MeV neutron energy range have been measured for Hg-196,Hg-198 by an activation and offline gamma-ray spectrometric technique using the Pd-300 Neutron Generator at the Chinese Academy of Engineering Physics (CAEP). Natural Hg samples and Nb monitor foils were activated jointly to determine the reaction cross section and the incident neutron flux. The neutrons were produced via the H-3(d, n)He-4 reaction. The pure cross section of the ground state was derived from the absolute cross section of the metastable state and the residual nuclear decay analysis. The Hg-196(n, 2)Hg-195(m,g) and Hg-198(n, 2n)Hg-197(m,g) reaction excitation functions and their isomeric cross-section ratios were also calculated theoretically using the TALYs-1.8 code with different level density models. Results are discussed and compared with corresponding literature data.