Resonance neutron capture in 60Ni below 450 keV

High-resolution neutron capture cross-section measurements on Ni-60 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. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.