Giant dipole resonance neutron yields produced by electrons as a function of target material and thickness

This paper characterizes the functional dependence of the giant dipole resonance neutron yield produced by electrons in terms of the atomic number (Z) and thickness (T) of the target. The yields were calculated by integrating, over the photon energy, the product of the differential photon track length and published photoneutron cross sections. The EGS4 Monte Carlo code and analytical formulas were used to calculate the differential photon track length. In thick targets, the Giant Dipole Resonance neutron yield approaches a saturation value as target thickness T increases to 10 radiation lengths. A formula, 8 x 10(-6) x (Z1/2 + 0.12 Z3/2 - 0.001 Z5/2) n electron-1 MeV-1, developed from EGS4 calculations, estimates thick-target neutron yields for incident electron energies Eo above 50 MeV. Giant dipole resonance neutron yields, calculated by several analytic formulas for the differential photon track length, are compared with EGS4 calculations. Modifications to the analytic formulas are suggested. A scaling function is derived to estimate, from the thick-target formula, neutron yields produced in thin targets.